


We Might As Well Be Strangers

by Sachiel21



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-02-06 05:23:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 28,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12810543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sachiel21/pseuds/Sachiel21
Summary: The road to redemption is long and hard. Forgiveness can be even harder. Blake comes back but it seems like Yang has moved on with someone else. V5 Canon divergence. Elderburn with a Bumbleby end game.





	1. Scenario A & B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest... I'm mad at canon Blake. Is she thinking about Yang at all, you know, the girl who lost her right arm for her? This story takes place in the current events of V5 canon with flashbacks to earlier events interspersed. It might not be the happiest fic I've written but bumbleby is the end game.

"Liars! How dare you even say you are doing this for the good of the faunus!"

Blake clashed violently with Fennec and Corsac, blades clanging loudly as she fought with Gambol Shroud. She managed to land a slash across Fennec's chest, piercing past his aura but Corsac came at her without missing a beat, striking Blake in the temple with the handle of his scimitar. She staggered back, the ground was spinning, there were floating neon spots and the edge of her peripheral vision was turning black.

"And this is where you die!" Fennec said, striding over and pointing the tip of his blade right at her throat.

She feebly put her blades up to protect herself, knowing full well that it wouldn't make much of a difference anyways. As he was about to strike, Blake heard a loud bang that sounded like a shot gun shell exploding. She saw a flash of blonde hair and then everything went black as she fell to the ground.

* * *

Blake blinked her eyes open, her eyelids felt so heavy, it would be so easy to just fall back asleep. She was laying on a soft mattress, the room felt warm and there was a faint smell of cinnamon spice in the air. She slowly turned her head towards the light and saw a blurry darkened figure standing in front of a bright sunny window. Her eyes gradually started to focus. She saw a leather jacket, a blonde ponytail, and a calm shade of lilac.

Blake bolted upright in the bed. "Yang…" She whispered her name like a prayer like she couldn't quite believe it. "Yang."

Tears started spilling from her eyes. She didn't try to stop them.

"Yang, I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so, so, sorry. I was scared. It was all my fault. I didn't know what to do. I… I…"

Yang just stood there, not saying anything as she listened to the string of rambling apologies tumbling from Blake's mouth. She watched at her with an unreadable expression. Was she so mad that she had no words? She started walking towards her.

"Yang?" she croaked fearfully.

Yang smiled softly and wrapped her in a hug.

"It's okay, Blake. It's okay."

It took a few seconds for the shock to dissipate but Blake hugged her back wholeheartedly, choking back the sobs. "Yang," she gasped. "I don't deserve this, I don't deserve you, I…"

Suddenly the piercing pain in her temple returned and then the world started spinning again. The next time Blake opened her eyes she was lying in the middle of the battle field, the smell of smoke and blood thick in the air. A blonde figure stood still, surveying the destruction, standing with her back turned to her.

"Yang…" she rasped.

The blonde figure turned around, eyes widening when their gazes met. She turned her back on her and started walking away.

"Wait!" Blake said as she pushed herself up to follow. The ground was still spinning but she powered through it.

Yang kept walking away, determined not to look back. _Don't' let her see you cry. Don't let her see you cry. Don't let her see you cry,_ she chanted to herself as she stomped away. Hot angry tears welled up in her eyes and she tried desperately to keep them from falling.

Blake continued to follow, the few meters of space miniscule compared to the amount of distance between them. She stumbled forward, trying to close the gap. She was scared of Yang's reaction, scared about confronting the situation but unable to let her go off by herself and get hurt again.

"Yang, wait! It's dangerous to go alone…. The White Fang…." Blake looked around, Fennec and Corsac weren't around, they must have gotten away. "Fennec and Corsac could come back."

Yang kept walking.

"Yang…"

"You abandoned me!" Yang screamed suddenly, turning to face her.

The sheer anger in Yang's voice stung Blake painfully.

"I… I…" Blake stuttered. _I'm sorry._

"All this time… Did you even think of me at all?"

_There wasn't a day that passed by that I didn't._

"No, huh? I didn't think so. I guess you were too busy doing, whatever it is that you're doing," Yang said when Blake didn't answer.

Yang turned around and walked away.

Blake stumbled forward on to her knees. "Yang, please!" she screamed.

Yang paused.

"I know you hate me right now… But I can't let you go off by yourself. If not for me, then for yourself, for Ruby."

Yang wrapped her fingers around her shaking left wrist and took several deep breaths. It would be so easy to go off on a tirade, find some more goons to let off some steam. But then she thought about Ruby, and how they were reunited just a month and a half ago…

Yang sighed and turned toward the direction of Haven Academy and started walking without looking back at Blake once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a tumblr post where I talked about Scenario A and B of when Yang and Blake reunited, so that's where the title of this chapter came from. By the way the title of this fic is based on a Keane song of the same name 'We Might As Well Be Strangers". Give it a listen it is pretty good!


	2. Lockdown

_The platform lifted and Blake was propelled at high speed towards the trees of Emerald Forest. She discharged Gambol Shroud's pistol and wrapped her ribbon around a tree, landing gracefully with a roll._

_She dusted herself off and looked around at her surroundings. With her keen ears, she could hear the voices of other students who had landed nearby. Blake decided to stay in the shadows for now, watching and waiting to learn more about her potential partners._

_Blake passed by Jaune who was stuck in the tree with a javelin through his hood. Definitely not. She walked past Weiss the Schnee heiress who was still standing in one place, assessing her situation. Not in million years._

_She saw Ren walking quietly through the forest. He was a possibility. Blake thought he would be calm under pressure and their fighting styles could match. But then again, she was sure that boisterous ginger haired girl Nora would come after her for eternity if she chose Ren as a partner._

_Blake kept walking until she heard loud gun shots and… Laughter? She looked up and saw a blonde haired girl flying through the sky, doing flips and somersaults as she shot shells out of her gauntlets to make herself go faster. Intrigued, Blake decided to follow her, hastening to where she landed._

_It didn't take long, she was practically asking for a fight, exclaiming about how bored she was. It was Yang, the girl who had written her off as a 'lost cause' from the night before. She stayed hidden from sight and watched her carefully. Blake had never met someone so loud and confident before. She was reckless but at the same time, free…_

_"_ _Ruby is that you?" Yang asked looking into some bushes._

_Ah so she found her sister. Blake figured they would want to be paired together, it seemed like they were really close. She was about to move on when she heard the telltale growling of the creatures of Grimm. Two huge Ursas came out and attacked the blonde._

_Blake readied her weapon in case she had to intervene. At their size and ferocity, there was no way she could take on both of them herself—_

_"_ _You monsters!"_

_Blake watched in awe as Yang let loose a wicked punch combination that sent an Ursa barreling through a set of trees. Such fire and raw strength…_

_It was at that moment Blake decided to show herself. 'The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years'. It was quite the commitment but Blake had a feeling that she wouldn't regret her decision._

_Time to look cool. She easily dispatched of the Ursa in one well-placed strike, and retracted her weapon with a flick of her wrist. Blake smirked at her new partner who was staring at her in surprise._

_"_ _I could have taken him."_

* * *

They walked for a half hour in silence. Blake following a few metres back from Yang, afraid to get too close. They finally made it back to the tall wooden gates of Haven. Yang slammed her palm twice on the planks and the guards opened the gates. They let her enter but stopped Blake.

"Who goes there?" one of them asked, looking at her faunus ears. The White Fang had just attacked the day before.

Blake was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Let her in," Yang said.

Blake followed Yang into the school as she walked toward the assembly room. It looked like a meeting was about to take place, there were other students milling about. Before she could even react, a red blur tackled her into a hug.

"Blake!" Ruby said, clutching her around the waist, tears welling up in her eyes. "Blake! I'm so glad you're here."

Blake let out a deep breath. She could feel it starting, one of the chains loosening around her heart.

"Ruby…" Blake hugged her back.

She saw Weiss approaching her out of the corner of her eye. She marched up to her and slapped her on the arm. Blake flinched in surprise, but was even more surprised when Weiss suddenly hugged her.

"Welcome back."

Blake let out a shuddering breath, holding back the tears.

Yang was on the opposite side of the room sitting on a side table, seemingly as physically as far from Blake as she could possibly get. She kept her gaze on her boots, not taking an interest in the reunion happening around her.

"Blaaake!" another voice yelled.

Sun stopped short right in front of Blake. "I was so worried when you went off on your own. Are you okay? You're bleeding," Sun said reaching up to touch her temple.

Blake stopped him with her hand. "I'm fine, just a little dizzy."

Yang watched the exchange with bitterness in her eyes. Of course _they_ were together this whole time. She went back to staring straight ahead as soon as Blake glanced over in her direction.

Ruby crept up to her sister cautiously. "Yang? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Yang was clutching the edge of the table so tight her fingertips were leaving marks in the wood.

"Did you and Blake-"

"We talked." And that was all Yang said.

The door to the auditorium opened and a young woman with pure white hair with steely ice blue eyes walked in with two Atlesian guards accompanying her. Blake had never seen this person before but she looked familiar.

"That's Winter, Weiss' sister. She's helping Professor Ozpin protect the academy," Ruby whispered.

"Professor Ozpin? He's here?" Blake asked.

Ruby pointed to a young boy with green eyes and freckles standing on the stage behind the podium. Blake looked back at her confused.

"It's a long story," Ruby said sheepishly.

Winter made her way onto the stage and took the podium. She cleared her throat.

"As you know, we have been in a state of high alert ever since the White Fang attack. We managed to fend off them off but they could return at anytime. I have discussed this matter with Professor Ozpin and we believe we must take this time to fortify our defenses and increase our training regimen to make ourselves stronger." She took a moment to look around at all the students. "In other words, Haven Academy is in lockdown."

A nervous rumble erupted in the room. Winter waited for the chatter to die down and was about to speak again when another voice interrupted her.

"That's stupid."

It was Yang, her eyes were blazing red.

"So we're just going to turtle and hide? We're strong enough now. We should take the fight to them!" She made a fist with prosthetic hand.

Winter fixed her with a cold stare but Yang didn't look away.

"Taking the fight to them as you say, would put countless lives in danger. It is beyond reckless."

Yang continued to stare back defiantly.

"If there are no further questions, this meeting is over," Winter said curtly. She stepped down from the podium and walked out with her guards.

Yang muttered something under her breath and got a slap on the arm from Weiss.

They made their way back to the dorms. Haven Academy had single rooms for its students.

Ruby showed Blake to her room. It looked small and spare, lonelier than their shared room at Beacon.

"Hey at least were in the same hall," Ruby said perkily.

Blake glanced over at the sound of Yang slamming the door to her room, two doors over. Ruby looked down awkwardly.

"She'll come around eventually…"

Blake nodded numbly. _She hates me._

"Thanks Ruby, I think I'm going to rest for a while. Talk to you in the morning?"

"Yeah! I can't wait to hear about Menagerie and your parents."

Blake tried to smile. "It will be good to catch up."

Ruby smiled cheerfully and skipped away to find Weiss.

Blake closed the door to her own room and plopped on to the bed. She replayed the conversation she had Yang over and over in her head.

_"Did you even think of me at all?"_

____

_Every single day I did. How could she even think that she didn't? She lost a part of her because of me. There wasn't a moment that passed that I didn't blame myself…_

____

Blake got up and crept down the hall to Yang's room. She stood outside the door, barely breathing for a long time. She worked up the nerve to knock softly against the door.

____

Yang was on the other side of the door unlacing her boots. She paused. From the almost inaudible sound of the knock, she thought she knew who it could be.

____

"Yeah?" she called.

____

Blake froze and let her arm fall back to her side. She sprinted back to her room and shut the door, hating herself the whole time. Deep down she knew. She was always a coward.

____

When there was no answer, Yang went back to unlacing her boots and told herself that sudden ache in her chest was just muscle soreness and _not_ disappointment she felt.

____


	3. Go Easy

_It had been a week since the initiation at the Emerald Forest where the teams were formed. Team RWBY was well into classes and everyone seemed to be settling in nicely._

_Yang watched her raven haired partner out of the corner of her eye as she wrapped the black ribbon round and round her arm as they prepared for sparring practice._

_Blake was still a mystery to her. She was standoffish when they first met that night in the great hall. At the time, she didn't seem to particularly like her, stonewalling all her attempts at conversation. But Yang couldn't shake the feeling that Blake had chosen her as her partner in the Emerald Forest. For what reasons, Yang did not know._

_Blake wasn't exactly the most talkative person. Even though it had been a week, Yang felt like she knew nothing about her. Often she appeared bored, distracted, her mind somewhere else. Sometimes she wasn't sure if Blake even liked her but then she would smile in her direction and her fears would be alleviated._

_"_ _Are you ready?" Blake asked, snapping Yang out of her thoughts._

_"_ _All set!" Yang said cheerfully. "Let's see what you got-"_

_Blake flashed a smirk and suddenly appeared behind her with the handle of her blade pushing against her back._

_"_ _Got your back."_

_"_ _Okay, now that's just freaky. How are you so fast?"_

_Blake just shrugged nonchalantly. "Just something I picked up, I guess."_

_"_ _Hmm. Well I won't go easy on you then," Yang said with a smile._

_They started off slowly; just a few strikes here and there. Despite what she said about not going easy on Blake, Yang pulled most of her punches, not really intending to push her partner too hard. She was watching her, in awe of the way she moved, the fluidity and grace._

_It seemed Blake was only testing her as well, watching her carefully as they moved around each other._

_Yang actually followed through with a punch for once but where Blake's face was just a second before, her fist passed right through. Blake materialized and elbowed her in the back and she fell forward on her face._

_"_ _I thought you weren't going to go easy on me."_

_Yang rolled onto her back and laughed. "Best two out of three?"_

* * *

"Better luck next time," Yang said to the boy who she had just tossed to the ground.

He groaned and stumbled away, red in the face.

Yang put a hand on her hip and stretched out her neck. It was late afternoon and the sun was low in the sky. She had sparred with dozens of students earlier in the day, defeating one after another. Even though she had been fighting for hours, she had barely broke a sweat.

"You sure don't hold back do you?"

Yang turned around. It was Winter Schnee with her guards.

Yang shrugged. "They knew what would happen if they challenged me."

"Hmm." Winter glanced at her guards. "Leave us."

The two guards obediently left.

"Would you like to spar?" Winter asked.

Yang was surprised. In her short time at Haven, Winter always seemed like she was on a pedestal, untouchable. She didn't expect to her to want to spar with a junior student like her.

"Sure, but you should know I won't go easy on you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Do you mind if we use our weapons?"

Yang eyed the sharp swords at her belt. "If you want…"

They readied their stances, Winter drawing her rapiers and Yang activating Ember Celica. Winter immediately threw a black glyph that had locked into place as she blurred past her and landed a glancing blow at her side.

Yang fired a few shots from her gauntlets but Winter was way too fast. She could hardly keep up with her as she darted around on her white glyphs. She ran circles around her, picking up speed and momentum with each pass.

Every hit was wearing down Yang's aura. She hadn't landed a single blow on Winter yet. Yang decided to change her strategy. Instead of trying to follow her movements with her eyes, she closed her eyes and tried to feel when Winter was about to strike.

She felt a cold wind brush past her right cheek and instinctively leaned to the side as she swung her prosthetic arm. Her fist connected cleanly with Winter's chin with a satisfying smack.

Winter stumbled off a few steps before she regained her footing. She touched the corner of her mouth with the back of her wrist and looked at Yang ruefully.

Yang set her jaw and kept her fists up. Winter stood up at her full height and reset her stance. She came at Yang more directly this time, lunging at full extension with her blades. Yang barely avoided one lunge but the other sliced through her tank top and grazed her skin.

Yang gasped, surprised her aura had been taken down to that level. She narrowed her gaze at Winter, furious that she had made her bleed. What kind of sparring match was this? Winter came at her again but Yang was able to predict her movements more accurately now that she was attacking directly.

Through a number of blocks, Yang managed to knock the sword from her grip and Winter was now empty handed. Winter grit her teeth and struck Yang square in the face with her bare fist. She followed it up with a punch to the gut which made Yang double over.

Winter's aggressiveness surprised Yang. She thought the fight would be over the minute Winter lost her weapon but she was wrong.

Winter knocked Yang to the ground and a cloud of dust kicked up. They wrestled for a bit on the ground. The white haired soldier wasn't afraid to get dirty. Winter gained the upper hand and yanked off Yang's prosthetic arm and tossed it aside.

"Wha-" Yang started to protest.

Winter whispered mockingly into her ear, "What are you going to do if you don't have it? Lay down and die?"

Yang's eyes went wide and her semblance exploded. She stood up slowly, her red eyes and hair blazing.

The fury and the heat surprised Winter and knocked her off. She smoothed the loose hair in her bun and smiled. "Now that's more like it."

"You…" Yang stomped forward. It had been a long time since she had fought without her arm and she felt slightly off balance. She was determined not to show a bit of that weakness to Winter.

She struck forward with her left hand and threw a right kick. Winter dodged the punch and checked the kick with her knee. Winter threw a left hook of her own and Yang reflexively tried to block with her right hand that wasn't there. She ate the punch at full force and stumbled back.

"Arggh!"

Yang tried to retaliate with a combination of kicks but Winter was too fast. Yang had vastly underestimated her hand to hand combat skills and was receiving blow after blow. She was relentless.

Winter grabbed her arm and twisted it around her back. She kneeled on Yang, pushing her arm higher and higher on back at a painful angle. One more inch and Yang's arm would break.

With no other hand to tap out with, Yang said one simple word, "Tap."

Winter let her go immediately to Yang's relief. The blonde rolled over onto her back, chest heaving and mouth bloody. Winter stood up and dusted her white coat off. Yang thought she saw a look of satisfaction on her face as she abruptly walked away to retrieve her weapons.

"Good game," she said as she left.

Yang raised a middle finger in response.

* * *

Blake and Ruby were talking outside their dorm rooms when they saw Yang bruised and battered stomping down the hall.

"Yang…?" Ruby asked.

Blake wondered what happened to her. Yang looked so beat up.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said walking past and closing the door.

Yang plopped onto the bed and lay there, replaying the fight over and over in her head.


	4. Getting to Know You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone it has been a few months! I've been dealing with a lack of motivation and low energy but I want to come back and finish this story. It has been a little slow for new content on the Bumbleby circuit lately, probably due to the long hiatus of the show. A lot of the fanfics I was following haven't been updated either, same as mine I guess. Anyways with out further ado, here's the next chapter.

_Yang was tinkering with her motorbike outside the dorm building when the nut slipped out of the wrench for the third time. She sighed exasperatedly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Blake walking along with her nose in a book._

_"_ _Hey Blake can you lend me a hand?"_

_"_ _What are you doing?" Blake asked as she approached._

_"_ _Trying to fix my bike. Can you hold this here?"_

_Blake held the nut in place as Yang tightened it. Yang started the engine and revved it a few times. There was a soft pinging noise in the background._

_"_ _I think I need a part from town… Say Blake, did you want to come along?"_

_"_ _How would we get there?"_

_Yang gestured to her bike._

_"_ _I thought you said it was broken?"_

_"_ _No silly, I just need a part to fine tune the gear shift. It'll still run."_

_Blake looked hesitantly at the yellow and black motorcycle. From what she knew of Yang's personality, she didn't think that she was the safest rider._

_"_ _Come on, it will be fun," Yang cajoled. "I'll buy you a coffee."_

_"_ _I don't drink coffee," Blake replied._

_"_ _Oh."_

_"_ _I drink tea though," Blake said._

_Yang stuck her tongue out and tossed her a helmet. "Tea snob."_

_Blake didn't know what to expect when she agreed to ride with Yang on her motorcycle. The blonde rode incredibly fast, taking turns so sharp Blake's boot brushed the pavement. In reaction, Blake clutched at Yang's midsection, burying her face in the back of Yang's jacket._

_Blake could smell the scent of citrus perfume on leather before suddenly realizing she was too close and pulled away to an acceptable distance._

_"_ _I'm never riding with you again," Blake said, taking off the helmet and straightening out her bow._

_"_ _Oh come on, it wasn't that fast."_

_Blake squinted and gave her a look._

_Later that day, the motorcycle part installed and coffees and teas in tow, Yang and Blake were walking back to the bike from the coffee shop. Throughout their outing, Yang talked non-stop, her likes, dislikes, stories about her time at Signal. After an hour, Blake thought she had a pretty good idea of who Yang was. She certainly talked enough._

_Yang shoulder nudged her and smiled. "Hey what are you thinking about? You get so quiet sometimes."_

_"_ _Nothing..."_

_Yang was a little disappointed by her lack of response but felt like it would be a mistake to push._

_"_ _Did you want to head back now?"_

_Blake was about to nod but then saw something that caught her interest._

_"_ _Is it okay if we go to the the book store first?"_

_"_ _Of course!" Yang replied enthusiastically. Blake had been so patient at the mechanic's shop._

_Yang took a long gulp from her latte._

_"_ _You have a little something…" Blake pointed to Yang's nose which had a dollop of frothed milk on the end of it._

_Yang went cross-eyed for a moment. "Aw jeez. Thanks"_

_Blake laughed._

* * *

For the last couple days, Yang kept thinking about her fight with Winter over and over.

_"_ _What are you going to do if you don't have it? Lay down and die?"_

Yang slammed her fists together and made up her mind. She was going to march right down to Winter's room and challenge her to a rematch. But when she pounded on the door, Winter wasn't in her room. Determined, she went all over the academy to find her.

Yang found her eventually standing alone at the precipice. Winter had her hands folded behind her perfectly straight back. She looked deep in thought.

Without turning, Winter spoke. "Is there something you need, Yang?"

Yang was caught off guard. "I - I want to spar again."

"Oh? Once wasn't enough?" Winter asked, turning to look at her.

Yang shook her head. "I want a rematch."

"Hah. Do you seriously think you can win?"

"Yes," Yang answered defiantly.

"Well I'm far too busy for such trivial matters."

Yang balked at her. "You don't look busy. What are you doing up here anyways?"

Winter turned back to the view. "Strategizing. This place is nice. I want to protect it."

When Winter didn't say any more, Yang stepped forward and stood beside her.

"What are you still doing here?" Winter asked after a sigh.

"It's a free country isn't it?"

"Shouldn't you be somewhere raging against the world?"

"What?"

"You've been sulking every day. Even more so since your faunus friend arrived."

Yang's eyes widened. "That's enough!"

They both watched as birds flew off from the trees from the loud sound of her voice. They stood in silence for a moment.

"Why are you so interested in me anyways?" Yang asked.

"I used to be like you," Winter said. "Lost, angry at the circumstances. You can use it you know. The anger. Instead of letting it tear you apart."

"You don't know anything about me..."

"Don't be so sure-"

Winter looked away at something in the distance.

"What?" Yang asked. "What do you see?"

"A horde of Grimm… Probably sent here from our White Fang friends. At this rate they'll break through the gates."

"We have to sound the alarm!"

Winter suddenly leaped off the balcony, descending on a series of glyphs.

"Where are you going!?"

There was no answer as Winter zoomed forward out of sight as a white blur.

"Son of a…" Yang growled as she too leapt off the balcony and shot shells from her gauntlets to break her fall.

When she got there, Winter had already dispatched almost half the Grimm. Yang leapt into action, punching through two Beowolves.

"I don't need your help," Winter said, plunging her blade through the eye of an Ursa.

"The hell you don't!"

Yang was about to fire a shot at an Ursa but Winter bumped her aside and took the kill.

"Hey!"

They separated and fought in their respective areas, away from each other. Winter bit off more than she could chew, taking on three huge Ursas at the same time. She took a hard swipe on her side, landing roughly on her arm.

"Winter!"

"I don't need your help…" Winter repeated weakly from the ground.

Yang growled and propelled herself forward over. She landed a side kick that sent the first Ursa flying. She ducked a swipe from the second Ursa and unleashed a one-two combination, disintegrating the Grimm. The third Ursa was winding up for a killing strike and she had no time to react.

Yang shut her eyes to brace herself for the blow but it never came. Winter's sword was through its chest.

The Grimm attack was over.

Winter stood up and dusted herself off, wrinkling her nose at the dark slick evaporating off the ground. She was about to walk away when Yang grabbed her.

"What the hell was that!? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Winter just looked away from her defiantly. Yang yanked hard on her arm to make her face her.

A spark went through the air, Yang felt it again, the heat between them as she stared into Winter's ice blue eyes. She could hear the blood pumping in her ears. In a flash of impulse, Yang pulled Winter towards her and kissed her. Her lips felt cool, in sharp contrast to her warm ones.

Yang thought she felt Winter start to kiss her back for a split second but then she felt two hands on her chest forcefully shoving her away. Winter looked her right in the eye with her ice blue gaze and wiped her mouth off with the back of her wrist. She stomped away, leaving Yang feeling foolish and confused.

In the middle of the night, Yang lay awake in her bed, sprawled out in her tank top and shorts. Again, Winter was on her mind. The words she said, the way she moved, the cold facade that belied the heat simmering just underneath her skin.

Everything she did seemed to set Yang on edge, a stinging quality with every interaction. In a way, Yang liked the pain. It made her feel alive. More alive than she had felt in the last few months anyways.

That kiss. Yang didn't know why she did it. Although even to herself, she couldn't deny that she was unbelievably attracted to the white haired soldier. She wondered if Winter felt something too.

Restless and wide awake, Yang rolled out of bed and made her way into the hall.

After wandering in the dark for long time, going back and forth physically and in her mind, Yang found herself standing outside Winter's bedroom. She knocked on the door and Winter answered. Her hair was down and she was wearing a lacey nightgown. She didn't seem surprised to see her.

"Winter, I…" Yang started.

Winter looked down demurely in thought for a moment and let Yang into her room.


	5. Team

_"_ _Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with them-"_

_Blake rushed to explain herself, but surprisingly Weiss cut her off and said she didn't care about her past._

_"_ _All I want to know, is that the next time something this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates, and not some… Someone else…"_

_Blake glanced at Yang who stood off to the side watching the exchange between her and Weiss._

_"_ _Of course." Blake said._

_"_ _Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby exclaimed._

_Blake let out a sigh of relief. Things seemed to be okay between her and the team but she noticed Yang didn't speak to her as they left the docks. She just turned away from her with an unreadable expression on her face._

_The airship ride passed by with not a word exchanged between them. Blake wasn't used to Yang not talking to her. The blonde had always filled the silence. It was something she got used to since they had been partners._

_With the silence becoming more uncomfortable with every second, Blake realized that she didn't think about Yang after her blow out with Weiss. Yang must have felt incredibly hurt by her actions. She felt like a terrible partner._

_The group was about to enter their dorm room when Blake paused and said, "Yang, can I talk to you?"_

_Yang turned to her with a surprised but slightly sad look in her eyes. She nodded._

_Blake led her to the common room balcony where they could talk alone. With a million thoughts running through her head, Blake didn't know where to start. She was tongue tied, not knowing what to say. The only thing she really knew for sure was she wanted things to be okay between her and Yang._

_On an act of impulse, Blake threw her arms around Yang, her cheek pressed against her chest._

_"_ _Um, I hope this okay?"_

_Yang blinked a few times before slowly wrapping her arms around Blake._

_"_ _Of course it is."_

_"_ _I've made such a mess of things."_

_"_ _Heh, twelve hours is a long night..." Yang didn't tell her that she was worried sick looking for her, worried that she would never see her again._

_"…_ _Yeah… Are you mad?"_

_"_ _A little… But more at myself."_

_Blake pulled back and looked at her questioningly. "What? You didn't do anything."_

_"_ _Exactly. I didn't do anything when things blew up between you and Weiss, I should have gone after you."_

_Blake shook her head vigourously. "No, it was all me, it was my fault. I should have been up front with you about… my past. I shouldn't have lied, I-"_

_Yang held Blake closer when her eyes began tearing up._

_"_ _Shhh. It's okay." Yang gently wiped away Blake's tears with her knuckles. "Dry your eyes now."_

_Blake was overwhelmed by feelings of comfort and kindness. She let out a shaky breath and felt lighter._

_"_ _It must have been so hard for you," Yang continued. "Not being able to tell anyone, you must have felt so alone…"_

_Blake hugged Yang tighter in response._

_"_ _I want you to know you that you can trust us, that you belong on our team," Yang said soothingly. "I'll always be there for you…"_

* * *

Yang woke up bleary eyed and naked in Winter's bed. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned, her entire body tingling. Slowly the night came back to her as she took in her surroundings.

Yang remembered hot kisses and searing touches, Winter's white hair splayed out on the pillow when she finally allowed her to top. The bite marks and hickeys were physical mementos of the previous night's activities along with a pleasant soreness. It had been quite the night.

Yang had experimented with other girls at Signal, but she never had anyone quite like Winter before. She was intense and dominating. The white haired woman knew exactly what she wanted and how to get Yang to scream her name, coaxing orgasm after orgasm until she was a shivering mess.

Just then, Winter walked across her line of vision fully dressed in her military clothes. She bent over her dresser and looked at herself in the mirror.

"We should lay out a few ground rules before this gets too far," Winter said as she was putting her mascara. "First of all, I don't do relationships."

Yang shrugged. She didn't want a serious relationship either. "That's fine by me," she said, looking around to see where her tank top had went.

"Second of all, we need to be discreet. I don't want my sister to know about our… Activities. It would make things awkward for all of us."

"Ditto," Yang said putting her panties on. It was then she noticed the time on the clock. "Oh shit, I'm late! Ruby wanted a team practice this morning."

Winter turned around with her back impeccably straight. "I have a strategy meeting in the north block, I'll walk with you."

* * *

Blake sat glumly outside on a bench in the bright morning sun, waiting for her other teammates to arrive. She couldn't sleep, deciding to head to the training arena early. Ruby wanted a training session with the team. It had been so long since they fought together. _"Like the old days"_ the young leader had said.

Blake had a bad feeling in her stomach about seeing Yang again. It had been days since they had last spoke, if it could even be called that.

 _"_ _You abandoned me!"_ The words still rung out in her ears, sending hot prickles of shame up and down her spine.

Blake knew she had to talk to Yang eventually to explain herself but the prospect scared her half to death. _What if she never forgives me?_

"Hey Blake you're here early," Ruby said, coming up the path with Weiss.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep."

"Is Yang here yet?"

"I haven't seen her…"

"Oh. She'll probably be here soon…" Ruby looked like she wanted to say something more but stopped herself. "Me and Weiss are going to warm up before practice. Want to join us?"

Blake smiled. "Thanks Ruby, but I think I'll stay out here a little longer."

"Okay see you in there."

Blake sat for a while thinking about the best way to approach Yang. Just then she saw two figures in the distance.

 _Since when were those two so close?_ Blake thought as she watched Winter and Yang walking together in tandem. They stopped a distance away from training arena to face each other. Winter stood with her hands behind her back, while Yang stood relaxed with her hands at her side.

They were looking intensely into each other's eyes but not saying much with their words. With one last look, Winter turned on her heel and left, Yang watching for a moment as she walked away. _What was going on between them?_ Blake wondered.

Yang turned towards the arena and Blake hurried to get there before her.

"Your late," Weiss announced when Yang finally arrived, not looking up from adjusting the dust cartridges on Myrtenaster.

"At least I showed up," Yang said, sending a hard look in Blake's direction.

"Hey it's okay, we have plenty of time left!" Ruby said, trying to smooth things over. "I was thinking we could start with team formations."

Yang glanced over at Blake who was standing there ready to go with Gambol Shroud. _Like Bumbleby?_ It seemed like a lifetime ago when they fought together as partners, when they were on the same wavelength.

"Tch, what team?" Yang scoffed.

"Yang…" Ruby said.

"It's okay Ruby, I can train on my own," Blake said resignedly.

"No don't bother, I'll go," Yang said, stomping away.

Ruby and Blake looked at each other dejectedly.

"Well that didn't work," Weiss said after a long silence.

* * *

"That was a short practice."

Yang rolled over off Winter's bare thighs on to her side. "I don't want to talk about it…"

Winter arched a perfectly groomed white brow. "Oh?"

Yang was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Ruby thinks we can just go back to the way it was… But we can't, we never can."

"Yang?" Winter asked, staring at the ceiling. "What happened between you and Blake?"

"She left me. High and dry, after this," Yang said, lifting her prosthetic arm.

"Were you two together?"

"No," Yang said quickly. _I don't know what we were…_ She thought.

After a quiet moment, Winter wriggled out of the bed and started to get dressed.

"Where are you going?" Yang asked.

"Since you missed your own team's training, _we_ are going to do some training. I think you need more practice fighting without your prosthetic, you're terribly off balance without it."

"Hey!" Yang yelled indignantly.

Winter turned around and set her with look, daring her to deny it. Yang grumbled and rolled out of bed. It was true.


	6. Interruption

_"_ _What's it doing?!" Yang asked frantically._

_The Ursa was curled into a ball and trembling like it was about to explode._

_"_ _I - I don't know!"_

_They had been on mission to clear a horde of Grimm that were overrunning an abandoned Dust mine. They had split up into their respective partner teams to cover more ground. Blake and Yang had cleared most of their section and were finishing off the last Ursa when it suddenly turned and fled._

_They followed the Ursa to the edge of a mine shaft and before they were able to land the last killing blow, it curled into a protective ball with its bone spikes sticking out._

_"_ _Oh no…" Blake said watching it glow red from the inside. She remembered hearing stories when she was growing up about Grimm exploding themselves as a final act. "It's going to self-destruct!"_

_"_ _They can do that?!"_

_"_ _We have to get out of here!" Blake heard of Grimm explosions leveling stadium sized areas._

_The Ursa was now glowing orange, quickly turning white._

_"_ _There's no time," Yang said._

_Yang ran right toward the Grimm and tackled it into the mine shaft. A second later, a huge explosion filled the shaft in a pillar of black and white light, clouding the area with black smoke._

_Blake collapsed to her knees, her eyes already welling up in tears. Nothing could survive that. Her partner was gone. Yang was gone._

_Blake broke down and began sobbing uncontrollably. Why? Why Yang of all people? Someone who was so good and pure?_

_Suddenly she heard a scraping sound from the shaft._

_"_ _Wow," Yang said, climbing up over the edge. She dusted herself off and smiled at Blake. "That was a blast."_

_Blake nearly threw her back out with how fast she stood up. She slammed into Yang, burying her face against her chest and grabbing fistfuls of the back her jacket._

_"_ _Don't you ever do something so stupid again!"_

_Yang had her hands hanging up in the air for a moment, too surprised to react. Eventually, she gently rested her hands on Blake's shoulders._

_"_ _Gee Blake, I didn't know you cared so much."_

_Blake's eyes widened when she realized what she was doing. She roughly shoved Yang off as she started stomping away._

_"_ _Hey wait!"_

_Yang ran up to her and wrapped her arms around her from behind. "Hey, hey. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to worry you," she said, holding her tightly._

_Blake breathed deeply, trying to get her emotions under control. "You're a jerk…" she mumbled_

_They stood there holding the position for some time until they heard someone clearing their throat._

_"_ _Ahem, are we interrupting something?" Weiss asked._

_The black and yellow pair quickly broke off. "No," they said in unison._

* * *

Yang vision went white for the second time that afternoon as Winter skillfully brought her to climax with the precise strokes of her tongue. Winter slowed her movements but didn't stop until Yang groaned and pushed her away.

Winter smirked as she looked up with her cheek resting on Yang's inner thigh. Their fingers were still intertwined; Yang's right prosthetic hand with Winter's left. There were moments where Yang was nervous that she'd squeeze too tightly and hurt her but everything was fine.

"You were louder than I thought."

"Y-yeah," Yang said with a tinge of pink colouring her cheeks.

Yang tried to sit up and change positions to return the favour but Winter shook her head.

"This is enough."

"But…"

"You put on quite the show."

Winter stood up, she was still wearing her combat skirt but her torso was naked except for the white lace bra she was wearing. Yang was bottomless but still wearing her black sports bra. Suddenly Winter lunged forward and kissed her deeply, allowing Yang to taste herself on her lips and her tongue.

"You're really sweet… Did you know that?"

"Shut up," Yang said, embarrassed.

Winter offered her a hand up. Yang paused for a moment before taking it with her right.

"This…" Yang looked at her prosthetic arm. "This doesn't bother you?"

"No, why would it?"

"I just thought it might feel a little weird when I touch you, Cold, unnatural."

"Not at all. It's a part of who you are, it doesn't comprise everything about you," Winter said, squeezing her hand. "Besides, you're not the first one I've slept with who's had a prosthetic."

"Really? Who?"

"None of your business."

"C'mon tell me," Yang whined. "I bet I could guess…" She thought about who in Atlas military who had prosthetics.

"No way…" Yang said, realizing who. "You and Ironwood?"

From the way Winter looked away, Yang knew she got it.

"It was a long time ago," Winter finally admitted. "Before he became a general."

"Spill!"

"I don't kiss and tell."

"Alright," Yang said, letting it go.

After the Fall, Ironwood wrote her a letter when he heard about her injury. He told her bits about his own story, offering advice about how to adapt and deal with the phantom pains. Only he understood what it was like. Despite the circumstances of their first meeting, Yang found out learned he was a good guy after all.

"Come on," Winter smiled. "Lets go get some air."

* * *

"Yang, can we talk?" Blake said, looking into the mirror.

She had been rehearsing what she would say to Yang all morning and finally felt ready to face her. It wouldn't be easy, but practicing what she would say helped her work up the courage to speak to her.

Blake went to Yang's room but she wasn't there. Afraid she would lose her nerve again, Blake left the dorms to find her. She checked the gym and training arena but she wasn't there either.

After checking few other places on the academy grounds and still not finding her, Blake reconciled she would have to talk to Yang tomorrow. She was passing by the main hall when she heard voices from a narrow passageway between buildings.

"Again? You just can't get enough of me, can you?" Yang asked.

"I guess I'm just addicted," Winter said, reaching up her shirt.

Yang gasped sharply as Winter roughly palmed her left breast. The blonde in response, grabbed her by the collar and pulled her into a deep kiss.

A few things struck Blake as she stood there, the urgency, the familiarity with the way Winter touched her and how Yang was whole-heartedly enjoying it. It was clear that they were sleeping together.

Suddenly she felt like she couldn't breathe, feeling a crushing pain coursing through her chest. Blake had never felt so paralyzed before.

Yang's eyes opened slightly between kisses and she saw Blake standing there.

"B-Blake?" Yang stuttered as she broke the kiss.

"I… I…" Blake's voice didn't sound like her own, wooden and robotic.

Yang distinctly avoided her gaze while Winter looked right into her eyes, clearly unashamed.

"Well?" Winter asked after a prolonged silence.

The sound of her cold voice snapped Blake out of her paralysis.

"I-I'm sorry I interrupted!" Blake yelled as she turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Yang leaned against the brick exterior of the building and took a deep breath. Her face felt hot and her chest felt tight, she couldn't really pinpoint the way she was feeling. Not ashamed but not happy either.

Winter stepped toward her. "Where were we?"

Yang turned away. "Not now, Winter… Why'd you talk to her like that?"

"She was just standing there, staring. What was I supposed to say?"

Yang shook her head and started to walk away. "Let's just go, okay?"

Winter stood where she was. "You said you weren't together."

"We weren't."

"From the look on her face, it sure didn't seem that way."

"Winter," Yang said in a warning tone. _Leave it alone_ , she communicated with her eyes.

"Fine, I won't push it but Yang… You should figure out what's going on between you two. If not for your own sake, then for the sake of your team. This discord could negatively affect the outcome of the battle we're to face."

Yang nodded after a pause and continued to walk away with her thoughts jumbled and her heart heavy.


	7. What Could Have Been

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Hi all I hope everyone is enjoying this fic so far. It is pretty different than the other ones out there. I read so many fics where Yang suffers over Blake and I wanted to flip that around and show Blake reacting to Yang with someone else. I write fanfics 50% for myself and 50% for others. It'd be cool to get more comments and reviews, like what do people think about the flashbacks? When I don't get much feedback, I start to wonder; WHY am I still doing this? It's not a threat, completing is important to me, but it happens you know.

_Resting an elbow on the podium, Yang took a moment to admire the decorating job they did on the great hall for the dance. Pink and blue balloons, streamers from the chandeliers, she had to admit the heiress did have good taste._

_Yang had checked in numerous people that evening, but there was only one person she really wanted to see. The person she had made it her mission to come to the dance._

_Just as she was beginning to wonder if a certain raven haired faunus would make an appearance that night, Blake walked through the doors on Sun's arm. Yang felt a slight sting in her chest when she saw them together but she did her best to hide it behind a smile._

_I guess he did ask her first, Yang thought._

_"_ _Hey Yang, how's it going? Sun asked._

_"_ _It's going," Yang replied, keeping her eyes on Blake._

_"_ _Sun, can you give us a few minutes?"_

_"_ _Sure thing, I'll go grab some punch."_

_Yang waited until Sun was out of earshot before speaking again._

_"_ _Wow Blake… You look beautiful..."_

_Blake couldn't help but blush at the compliment. "So do you," she managed to say. She cleared her throat. "You said you'd save me a dance?"_

_For a moment Yang was taken aback, surprised Blake was taking her up on the offer she had made after their talk in the empty classroom yesterday._

_"_ _I was hoping you'd be my first-my first dance, I mean," Blake said when Yang didn't say anything. "Unless you don't want to-"_

_"_ _No, I want to!" Yang quickly answered. She glanced at the guest list, most of the students had checked in already, only Mercury and Emerald from the visiting academy were left. She took Blake's hand and smiled. "Come on."_

_They made their way to the dance floor. Yang could feel the warmth through the thin silk fabric as she placed her hand on Blake's waist. Blake skimmed her hand along Yang's arm up to her shoulder and clasped their other hands together. They started waltzing to the music._

_"_ _You dance really… Well."_

_Yang smirked. "Did you think I had two left feet? Foot work is pretty important in boxing."_

_For a few moments, they just looked into each other's eyes as they danced._

_"_ _What?" Blake asked, noticing Yang smiling gently at her._

_"_ _I'm really glad you came."_

_Blake slipped her arms up Yang's back and leaned in closer. "Thank you," she whispered softly into her ear. "For everything…"_

_Yang was frozen for a second, eyes darting around as her own heart beat jumped suddenly. She slowly wrapped her arms around Blake's waist. "You're welcome…" she said quietly._

_They stayed like that for a while, returning to the waltz when they realized how intimate the position was. Out of the corner of her eye, Yang could see Sun watching them intently, anxious to cut in._

_"_ _So you and Sun, eh?"_

_"_ _Yeah, it was kind of a last minute thing," Blake said awkwardly. "You didn't come with anyone?"_

_"_ _A few people asked but I was too busy planning and setting up to choose a date," Yang laughed, tossing her hair back._

_For some reason, Blake felt inexplicably glad._

_"_ _Oh… That's okay, you're here with friends."_

_Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah with friends, I'm so cool. Hey, want to end this dance off with a bang?"_

_"_ _Uh, sure."_

_Yang twirled Blake around with a flourish and they curtsied politely to one another. She ushered Sun in to take her place as she left the dance floor to join Ruby and Weiss. The sound of Blake's laughter echoing through the hall was music to Yang's ears._

_Blake looked up and smiled right at her, her eyes clear and bright._

_"_ _I told you she would come."_

_"_ _Mission accomplished," Weiss said._

_"_ _So… What do we do now?" Ruby asked._

_"_ _Just have fun!"_

_Yang made her way to the balcony and watched the dance from above, quietly content. She gazed at Blake's smiling face as she danced with Sun._

_As long as she's happy, I don't mind._

* * *

Like a shadow Blake followed them. Cataloguing every interaction; how many times they brushed hands, how many times they kissed, and how many times Yang went to her room. Something in her needed to know every lurid detail about their relationship. She drew the line at listening to them have sex, the sounds of Yang's ecstatic moans too much for her to bear.

Self inflicted torture, insanity. Blake didn't know why she was so obsessed. She wasn't sure why it hurt so much. Part of her wanted to feel the pain. Like poking at a wound through a bandage, keeping it raw, not allowing it to heal. Maybe it was her way to stay connected to Yang before she slipped away completely. The closeness they once had, a distant memory.

One early misty morning, Blake found herself watching them from afar. The smell of damp grass and warm soil strong in her nostrils as she stood on a hill overlooking the training arena. Yang and Winter were sparring. With her sharp faunus eyes, Blake saw every detail. They moved fluidly together, completely in sync, pushing each other to new heights.

Blake could see why Yang liked her. Winter was beautiful, strong and brave. Everything that she wasn't.

_Winter wouldn't have run away._

Winter won the match by knocking Yang to the ground. She extended a hand to Yang to help her up. They smiled at each other, kissed once, then twice. Blake felt her chest contract painfully. The worst part was the way Yang looked at her, with a brightness and affection that used to be saved for _her_.

Unable to hold it in anymore, Blake began to cry, a multitude of regrets finally overwhelming her. Mourning what was lost, mourning what could have been. She felt so incredibly stupid. Everything she did, everything she didn't do, action-inaction led to this final result. She really _did_ lose Yang to Winter.

"Blake?"

Blake looked up at Sun with tears streaming down her face.

"What's wrong?"

Sun followed Blake's gaze to Yang and Winter sharing a kiss. A look of realization flashed in his eyes.

"You… You love her, don't you?" Sun said.

"I can't, I can't…" Blake whispered, barely holding back the sobs.

"Shh, come on lets go."


	8. Feelings

_"_ _You should have been more careful," Blake said with a slight scolding tone as she rubbed the bruise on Yang's forearm with her thumb._

_"_ _Hey, I'm fine," Yang said, gently clasping her hand. "I can't believe Weiss took down Flynt like that."_

_They sat there quietly, holding hands in the garden of a secluded courtyard that they had found by accident through their late night roamings of the school._

_Blake rolled out her neck from her shoulders. She was always nervous when she watched Yang fight from the sidelines, preferring to be there right next to her during a battle._

_"_ _Why are you so tense?" Yang asked. "Sun not performing up to snuff?"_

_"_ _W-what?" Blake sputtered. "He's not my boyfriend, Yang."_

_"_ _Do you want him to be?" Yang asked, watching her carefully._

_Blake knew the monkey faunus liked her. It was obvious from the way he looked at her. He was handsome, reliable and friendly but honestly she didn't feel the same way._

_"_ _No… Why would you ask that?"_

_"_ _Because…" Yang was looking down, her eyes hidden by her thick golden bangs. She shook her head. "No reason…"_

_Blake was about to question her more but Yang suddenly laughed. "Hey, did I tell you about the time I stole the principal's car?"_

_"_ _Yang, be serious… What about you?"_

_"_ _Hm?"_

_"_ _Is there anyone you like?"_

_"_ _I guess there is this one… Buuut it's a secret."_

_Blake felt a strangely conflicted at the thought of Yang having a secret crush on someone, not quite sad but not happy either. She respected Yang's privacy._

_"_ _Well, they would be lucky to have you, whoever it is…" Blake said wistfully._

_"_ _Aw thanks Blakey, you're the best!"_

_Yang went in for a kiss on the cheek but Blake had inadvertently turned her head at the last moment and their lips brushed. They stared at each other wide-eyed for a moment._

_Yang chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that Blake. Wrong angle."_

_Blake couldn't speak. She watched as the tip of Yang's tongue slipped out, unconsciously tasting the area where their lips had just met and was overcome with a blinding urge to lean forward and press her mouth to hers. These thoughts were dangerous._

_The air changed, like it was charged with static electricity. Yang started to lean forward, imperceptibly at first, tilting her head with the slightest of angles._

_In the back of Blake's mind, there was a voice saying that this was wrong, that they were partners, both girls, interracial human-faunus but at that moment she couldn't bring herself to care._

_Just as their lips were going to meet again Yang's name was called on the intercom to register for her next fight. They pulled back to normal but somewhat painful conversational distance._

_"_ _Blake I…" Yang started._

_Blake smiled shyly at her. "We should go. You don't want to be late for your fight."_

_Yang looked crestfallen. "But shouldn't we talk about…" Yang felt like there were so many things that needed to be said._

_"_ _We'll talk after your match."_

* * *

Sun and Blake sat quietly on the edge of the stone wall overlooking the valley. He handed Blake a bottle of water after her breathing had settled down.

"How long?" Sun asked.

"I don't know… A while, I guess…" Blake said.

"Have you told her?"

"No. She can't stand being in the same room with me and besides, she's with Winter now..." _I missed my chance._

"So that's it? You're just going to give up?"

"I… What else am I supposed to do, Sun!?"

"Fight for her."

"What, you want me to challenge Winter to a duel or something?"

"No, I mean like talk to her. Show her that you're staying and you care about her. If the situation was reversed, Yang would fight for you."

Blake scoffed. "Yeah right…" But she knew deep down it was true.

"Look Blake, I don't know what all went down between the two of you but I think it would be a big mistake if you don't tell her how you feel."

Blake was quiet for a long time, sorting through her thoughts. "What if she… What if she doesn't feel the same way?" Who was she kidding, of course Yang didn't feel the same way after what she did.

"Then at least you'd know that you tried," Sun said with his jaw set. "It's better than spending the rest of your life wondering."

Blake had nothing to say to that. What did she have to lose? The last remaining shred of her relationship to Yang, as battered and frayed as it was?

If Yang didn't feel the same, there would be awkward team dynamics for perpetuity. She decided that she'd much rather see anger in Yang's eyes when she looked at her instead of pity.

Blake took a long deep breath. It was all too much. How she wished that she could disappear. It would be so much easier that way if not for the fact that all hope for forgiveness would undoubtedly be gone if she dared to run away again.

"Blake, just take some time to think about it," Sun said hopping off the wall. "For what it's worth, I think you still have a chance. Yang _really_ cared about you back then at Beacon. People just can't turn off their feelings overnight."

With a wave, Sun turned and left. Blake stayed and continued to look over the valley, mulling over her thoughts. _People just can't turn off their feelings_. She of all people knew how true that was.

* * *

Yang lay on her side in the bed with the afternoon light streaming across her body, idly stroking Winter's white hair as she dozed. They had just finished a long lovemaking session after their morning spar. There was something about the adrenaline and sweat of the fight that turned Yang on immensely.

Winter's eyelids fluttered and a crystal clear blue eye peeked out at Yang. She smiled and pulled her in for a long slow kiss.

Yang was surprised by the sheer tenderness as Winter gently moved her lips against hers. It felt significant, as if…

Yang pulled away breathless. "Not that I'm complaining but what was that for?"

"I'm leaving."

"What?"

"Ozpin and Lionheart said the students have trained to satisfactory level and are able to defend the academy from future attacks. They want me back at Atlas to help fortify their defenses."

"Oh." Yang said, processing. "When?"

"Tomorrow."

Yang sat up. "You're just telling me this now?"

"I only found out this morning."

The blonde sat still, not sure what to think or feel.

"Aw, don't make that face," Winter said, smoothing out the creases in Yang's brow with her fingers. "We both knew this couldn't last forever."

Yang gently shook her hands off. "I know… It's just seems kind of sudden…"

She remembered Winter's words; _I don't do relationships._ Maybe It was better this way before messy, life-complicating feelings developed.

"It's been fun, Yang," Winter said, grasping her prosthetic hand with a fond look in her eyes.

Yang looked down at their clasped hands, her metal fingers intertwined with Winter's pale ones. She felt sad.

"So this is our last day together?" Yang said, playfully rocking their hands back and forth.

Winter nodded and Yang thought she saw something wistful in her expression.

Yang put her human hand on her thigh, slowly sliding it up. "So… Can we do it once more for old time's sake?"

Winter's gaze darkened ever so slightly, her other hand traveling up Yang's side. "Think you can keep up?"

"I'm always up for a challenge," Yang said sultrily.

* * *

Ruby and Yang leapt out of the way as one of Weiss' ice Beowolves came barreling through the dirt. It was evening. Ruby had finally convinced Yang to participate in one of their team practices. She had been spending so much time with Winter recently.

Weiss had improved greatly and she was able to summon ten icy forms of Grimm at one time. The team could practice with training dummies all they liked, but nothing compared to fighting something that looked and acted like a real Grimm.

Ruby and Yang executed their team attack Strawberry Sunrise; a volley of sniper and shotgun shots, then uppercut and scythe swipe to dispatch the Grimm they were fighting. They high fived and Yang pulled Ruby into a side hug, mussing up her hair.

"Nice one, sis."

"Still got it!"

Just then Blake landed from a back flip in front of them. She had just finished an ice Grimm of her own with an upward slice from her blade.

"Hey, did you guys want to practice Bumblebee?" Ruby asked hopefully.

Yang scoffed. "No."

Blake was about to lower her gaze and stay silent but Sun's words echoed in her mind; _Fight for her._

"What? Are you scared?" Blake asked, trying to keep the quaver out of her voice.

Yang turned to her angrily. "I'm not scared," she hissed. "And least of all of you." It was a lie and she knew it.

"Then come on."

Yang stared at her for a moment before loading up her gauntlets with a flick of her wrist.

Blake flung Gambol Shroud into the air, the black ribbon gracefully unraveling from her wrist. Acting on instinct, Yang shot her gauntlets and leapt forward to grab the pistol. She ran until the ribbon went taut and Blake pulled back hard, swinging her in wide circle.

Yang shot her gauntlet each time she landed on her foot, spinning faster and faster. Blake kept a tight grip on the ribbon, trying to control the momentum of Yang's weight.

For a moment, things felt right. They were connected, like she was the center and Yang was coming back to her. Maybe this was the start they needed rebuild their relationship.

But, it had been months since they had fought together. Blake stumbled and the ribbon got caught on her leg. The momentum faltered and Yang smashed into her, cursing as they fell together in jumbled heap of tangled limbs. The moment was over.

Yang pushed herself up on her hands. "Way to go, Belladonna," she muttered.

Blake looked defiantly at Yang hovering over her with fire in her eyes. It felt like the same spark that was between them before. It would be just scant inches to lean in and press her mouth to hers. Make her remember what they once had. Make her forget why they were fighting.

Yang's gaze flickered to Blake's lips for a second before she abruptly stood up.

"Don't, Blake."

Blake's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't what?" she asked, pretending not to know.

"Don't look at me like that. It's not the same anymore."

 _I don't want you anymore_ , _that's what she means_ , Blake thought. Now she was hurt.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, standing up and brushing the dirt off her pants.

Yang let out an exasperated sigh, but Blake wasn't done yet.

"Of course it's not the same anymore. You're passive-aggressive now and…. Mean!" Blake recoiled at her own childish choice of words.

Ruby and Weiss stood by in a state of shocked silence.

Yang looked taken aback but then her expression hardened just as quickly. "Oh, so I'm mean now? Gee I wonder how that happened," she spat bitterly.

Blake stormed off without another word. _How long was she going to keep punishing her?_


	9. The Fall

_"_ _You guys believe me… Right?" Yang asked, after Ironwood left the room._

 _"_ _Duh!" Ruby exclaimed._

 _"_ _You're hot-headed but not ruthless," Weiss said._

_Ruby and Weiss had answered quickly but not Blake. She was noticeably silent._

_"_ _Blake?"_

_Blake looked down and away for one heartbreaking second. "I want to believe you…"_

_Shattered. That's what she felt like. Those five words and the doubt in her voice, breaking down every fiber of her being._

_Weiss quickly came to her defense but Yang couldn't hear her, she was too focused on Blake._

_She didn't believe her._

_"_ _Blake?" Yang asked, her eyes welling up with tears._

_Yang couldn't remember the last time she cried. Was it at Summer's funeral so long ago?_

_She couldn't remember the last time she felt this hurt. She had taken a direct hit from an Atlesian Mech before but the physical pain was nothing compared to this._

_Blake didn't trust her. Relationships were built on trust. What did she and Blake have?_

_Yang tried so hard to be a good friend, opening up to her so she could let down her walls. She thought they had something but maybe it was all just an illusion in her head. Maybe she really was going crazy._

_Blake really thinks I am capable of hurting someone like that._

_Maybe she doesn't know me at all…_

* * *

_Blake and Weiss stood in a state of disbelief as they watched Grimm overrunning the Vytal Festival fair grounds. People running for their lives, Atlesian knights shooting their weapons, it was complete mayhem._

_"_ _I don't believe this…" Weiss said._

_Blake brought out her scroll and dialed Yang's number, she just had to make sure she was safe._

_"_ _Yang, are you okay?"_

 _"_ _I'm fine, is Ruby with you? She's not answering her scroll."_

 _"_ _No, she isn't."_

_She heard Yang pause on the other end of the line._

_"_ _Yang, I'm sure she is fine. She's our leader, she can take care of herself."_

 _"_ _Right," Yang said after another pause. "I'm heading to the docks near the courtyard. White Fang are releasing Grimm into the school!"_

 _"_ _The White Fang is here?"_

_Just then, Blake heard static and the loud snarling of Grimm. Her heart nearly stopped._

_"_ _Yang!"_

 _"_ _I got to go! Be careful."_

_The line went dead. Blake looked forlornly at her scroll. She wished that she could be there by her side, to protect her._

_Yang had looked so sad when they had left, devastated when she had doubted her. She made her cry…_

_Blake typed in the code for her weapon locker._

_She couldn't let that be the last thing between them, she wanted to see Yang's smile again._

* * *

_"_ _Weiss! You're okay!" Yang said, running up to courtyard. "Have you heard from Ruby?"_

_Weiss shook her head._

_"_ _What about Blake?"_

 _"_ _She went after an Alpha. And some members of the White Fang."_

_Yang felt the worry rise up in her heart. "You look for Ruby, I'll meet up with Blake."_

* * *

_"_ _This could have been our day! Can't you see that?!" Adam Taurus said, raving like a lunatic._

 _"_ _I never wanted this! I wanted equality! I wanted peace!" Blake said, getting up to her knees. She fired shots from her pistol but he blocked each one._

 _"_ _What you want is impossible!"_

_He backhanded her and she landed hard on the ground._

_"_ _But I understand. Because all I want is you, Blake."_

_Blake glared at him angrily and tried to raise her gun but Adam kicked it out of her hand._

_He was insane, cruel and sadistic. Blake couldn't believe she didn't see him for the monster he truly was before. She was a fool._

_"_ _And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves…" Adam kneeled in dangerously close so she could see the sincerity in his crazed eyes. "I'm going to make it my mission to destroy everything you love."_

 _"_ _Blake!" Yang's voice rang out high and clear into the night._

_Yang, her best friend. Her light._

_"_ _Blake! Where are you?"_

_No stay away! Blake silently willed._

_Adam watched her reaction and must have seen the look of abject fear in her eyes._

_"_ _Starting with her."_

* * *

_Yang ran through the school grounds, desperately looking for her partner. They didn't part ways on the best of terms earlier but all she wanted now was to make sure she was safe._

_A White Fang thug attacked her by the library but Yang easily knocked him out. Blake must have been close, Weiss said she went after them._

_Suddenly, she heard Blake's unmistakable cry of anguish. Yang looked through the broken window, Blake's attacker was standing over her with his red blade through her abdomen. Time stopped. Her heart stopped._

_"_ _Get away from her!"_

_Yang watched as he calmly turned to her and sheathed his blade, daring her to come forward._

_He hurt Blake. Blake was in danger. She had to make him stop!_

_With a loud cry, she activated her semblance and launched herself at him, no longer in control of her own body._

* * *

_"_ _No… Please…" Blake cried as she stretched her fingers in Yang's direction._

_She watched in horror as Adam's blade cleaved through the muscle and bone of Yang's right arm. Time seemed to slow as she spiraled through the air and landed with a dull thud._

_Adam walked slowly towards her. Blake flinched from the sound of Yang's blood spattering on the ground as he swiped his blade to clean it. He was coming to finish her off, to deliver the killing blow._

_No! He'll have to get through me first!_

_Ignoring the pain, Blake leapt to shield Yang with her body. She stared at Adam straight in the eyes._

_I won't let you kill her._

_Blake focused all her energy on her semblance. There was only one chance to get this right so they could both come out of this alive. She had never made a clone of another person before but she knew her partner inside and out. They were so close. Yang might as well have been a part of her._

_"_ _Why must you hurt me, Blake?"_

_She stared. She focused._

_He swung his blade at her neck but it only went through smoke as her shadow clone dissipated. She ran as fast as she could, carrying Yang's limp body in her arms._

_It was only when the library was out of sight and she was the near the courtyard when she finally slowed down, the pain in her side becoming unbearable. She sunk down to the ground, leaning her back against a lamp post._

_Yang was losing a lot of blood. Blake tore off one of the ribbons off her arm and tied it tightly around Yang's wound as a tourniquet._

_With her sensitive faunus ears, she could hear Yang's heartbeat slowing down._

_"_ _No, no, no!" Blake screamed. "Yang! Don't die, don't die, please?"_

_She held her tight against her body, shaking and her tears falling on Yang's face._

_"_ _I need you…"_

_Blake pressed her lips to hers in a clumsy desperate kiss._

_"_ _I love you…" she sobbed, ashamed that she couldn't say those words when she was conscious._

_The adrenaline was starting to wear off. With no strength left, Blake passed out as she cradled Yang in her arms, the blood from their wounds intermingling on the pavement._

* * *

"And remember, don't be reckless," Winter said, as she and Yang walked toward the airship that was waiting for her.

"Aw, you actually sound like you care, don't go soft on me now."

"I'm not," Winter said, stopping at the ramp and straightening Yang's collar. "Just be careful."

"Well, I guess this is it… I, um…"

Yang shoved her hands in her pockets and drew some patterns on the ground with the toe of her boot. She realized that she wasn't very good at talking to Winter unless they were fighting or fucking. She paused for a moment before throwing her arms around her in a tight hug.

"Um, yeah… Thank you for telling me the things that I needed to hear… And never treating me differently because of my arm." Yang released her from the hug and quickly wiped away some tears. "The sex was pretty awesome too…"

Winter laughed and gave her one last kiss that left Yang breathless. "Don't wait for me…" she said, looking into her eyes. "Talk to Blake."

"What?" Yang asked, taken off guard by what she said. "Wait Winter, I wasn't thinking of her when we were together. I wasn't using you-"

"I know, Yang, I believe you. But, it is plain to see how she feels about you, and I know you care about her too. Now…" she squeezed Yang's shoulder. "Go get your girl."

Winter boarded the airship and she was gone. Yang stood there motionless for a while, watching it fly away. She felt empty but she knew what she had to do.

Yang went to Blake's room and left her a note on her door.

_Let's talk. Tonight. Your room._

_\- Yang_

* * *

"So you started a revolution, huh?" Yang said in a detached tone.

"I guess…" Blake said as she shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

Blake had just finished telling her what she had been doing for the last few months. How she and her family rallied the faunus in Menagerie to help defend Haven. They were supposed to arrive on ship in a few days.

As she was telling her tale, she tried not to look at Yang's prosthetic arm, but her eyes kept wandering back to the yellow and black appendage. It was painful reminder of that night. Of what Yang gave up for her. Of what _she_ did to _her_.

"…You were with Sun the whole time, while I was here… Wondering where you went…" Yang said, trying to keep her voice under control.

"I'm sorry…" Blake said, looking at Yang's arm.

"I don't want to hear your apologies," Yang said flatly. "I want to know why you left."

"…I didn't think that you would want to see me after what happened..."

Yang followed Blake's line of sight to her arm. She clenched her fist.

"Don't you dare pretend that you left because of something _I_ wanted," Yang warned lowly.

"I thought I was protecting you," Blake said, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Bullshit."

"He said he would destroy everything that I cared about!" _Loved._

Yang shook her head and stood up from the bed where she was sitting. She wasn't hearing her anymore.

"I woke up in a hospital bed alone. They wouldn't tell me where you were, I ripped apart the whole medical wing looking for you!"

Blake was openly sobbing now. She imagined that this was what it felt like to get dismantled from the inside out.

"And Sun had to be the one to tell me that you fucking ran!"

Yang clutched her shaking left hand, taking several deep breaths.

"I spent months in bed, lying awake at night wondering why I was never good enough for someone to stay and be there for me. What is _so_ wrong with me that everyone keeps leaving?!"

Blake shook her head, tears blurring her vision. _No, nothing is wrong with you! You're perfect, I'm the bad one!_ She tried to reach for her but Yang shook her off.

"You know what the worst part was? Realizing that all the times we spent together meant absolutely nothing to you."

"That's not true! They meant everything to me!" Blake choked out.

"If they did, then you would have stayed!"

"Do you think I wanted to leave? Do you think it was easy for me? I thought about you every single day."

"I don't believe you," Yang said, turning away.

"I never stopped thinking about that night. I remember the way you felt in my arms when I was carrying you. The smell of your blood dripping on the ground-"

The blonde turned to her in shock. Painful images from that night flashed through her mind. "No… No! No! No!"

All of a sudden, Yang couldn't breathe.

She had to get out.

Anywhere else but here.

Away.

Away from her.

Yang ran to the door but her left hand was trembling so badly, she couldn't turn the handle.

"That's why I couldn't stay," Blake sobbed. "That's why I couldn't be here. It was all my fault. I brought Adam into our lives. It's because of me that he hurt you."

"This is not all about him!" Yang yelled. "You made a choice too, Blake. You chose to leave. You chose to leave me!"

Yang crushed the handle with her prosthetic arm and wrenched open the door, running away with tears in her eyes.

Blake sunk down to the floor and cried her heart out.

* * *

 _Fuck the lockdown_ , Yang thought, stomping up the stairs to Lionheart's office. She needed to get out of here. Any task or mission will do.

Outside the door, she heard Lionheart and Ozpin talking about Relics, and the whereabouts of the Spring Maiden. Yang had no idea about any of that but there was one name that came up that _she was_ familiar with. Yang burst through the doors of the office.

"You're looking for Raven?" Yang asked. "I'm her daughter. Sign me up."


	10. Captured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed posting the last part of the last chapter for the first couple hours. So if you read the last chapter early when it came out, you might have to re-read the end to not be confused. Also, please don't hate me for this chapter.

It was morning when Blake woke up with her hair stuck to the side of her tear streaked-faced. Last night's talk with Yang had taken such an emotional toll on her that she passed out on the floor, exhausted. She remembered the pure unadulterated pain on Yang's face and in her voice when she told her what it was like to get left behind.

When she left that night, Blake thought it was for the best, that she was protecting her. Now Blake realized that she just caused Yang even more pain with her leaving. It was a horrible mistake.

Blake leapt up and ran to Yang's room. She just couldn't let it end like that, especially when they were so close to resolution. She finally understood how hurt she was. Maybe now they could move forward from what happened. But when she got there, she found Yang's bed unslept on, and her weapons and clothes gone.

A feeling of dread crept up on her.

_No._

Blake frantically ran to Ruby's room next, clapping her hands on the door.

"Ruby! Ruby, open up!"

After some shuffling, Ruby answered the door with bed head hair, rubbing her eyes.

"Blake? What's wrong?"

"Is Yang with you?"

"No," Ruby said, clearly confused.

"She's not in her room. Her clothes are gone. We talked last night. Oh god, I drove her away!" Blake cried. Her breaths were coming in fast little huffs. She was hyperventilating.

Ruby was having trouble understanding her. Blake said so many things in one single breath.

Weiss came out of her room from all the commotion.

"Blake, calm down." She had never seen the faunus like this before.

"Weiss, what about Winter, where is she?"

"Winter? She left for Atlas yesterday afternoon."

_That was before we talked, so she can't be with her…_

"What's this all about?"

But Blake couldn't answer, there was only one thing repeating itself in her mind. _I drove her away._

She covered her mouth in an attempt to stop the sobs. "No!" she said in a strangled voice.

* * *

_"_ _Yang! Don't die, don't die, please?"_

_"_ _I need you…"_

_"_ _I love you…"_

Yang woke up from her sleeping bag with a start. She touched her fingers to her lips. They were still tingling from the dream she had of that night. Unbidden, tears filled up her eyes. She took a deep breath and blinked them away, letting them fall on to her chest.

It had been awhile since she had those dreams. Her talk with Blake triggered painful memories that she had spent the last six months trying to forget.

With Winter's strenuous regimen, on and off of the training field left her too exhausted to brood, and she often slipped into a dreamless sleep after they were done. Now Winter was gone too.

Yang got up and retrieved the binoculars from her pack. She turned the sights to the shanty town of tents the bandits called a hideout. Yang had found it easily enough. There was a wooden sign post that said 'Bandits' pointing in the opposite direction of Mistral.

It took over an hour of convincing but Ozpin finally agreed to let Yang go on a mission to find Raven. She had a feeling that the stakes were high and Ozpin and Lionheart were desperate. If her uncle Qrow was here, he would have never let her go. Good thing he was off on his own mission, collecting intel for the headmasters.

Apparently Raven and her gang of bandits had a penchant of killing people on sight. They thought Yang, being her daughter, would have the best chance at persuading Raven to help obtain the relic. Yang didn't know if she would succeed in getting her help, but she wanted to see her mother anyways. Maybe she could get some answers from her as well.

Yang had been watching the camp yesterday afternoon until night fall, there were no bandits to be seen. She thought they had gone somewhere and that they would be back eventually but there was still no one in sight.

She watched for a few more hours that morning. Maybe they had abandoned the camp and moved somewhere else? Yang got restless. After thinking about it for a while, she made the decision to go in and search for clues of where they might have went.

Yang crept through the front gate of the log enclosure and walked a few steps into the camp. When the gate suddenly slammed shut behind her, she knew she had made an awful mistake. One by one, Yang lost count after twenty, members of the White Fang came out of their hiding places and surrounded her.

"Look what we have here," a low raspy voice said.

Yang turned to the direction of the voice and saw a masked face that was burned into her memory and nightmares. Adam Taurus was standing on the front platform of the biggest tent, smiling at her.

"We were waiting for that traitorous bitch Raven to show up but I suppose you'll do."

Yang growled and shot a shotgun shell right at his face. He ducked and the other White Fang members swarmed. Yang spun and let off five more shotgun shots, knocking out the first circle of approaching enemies. She lunged at Adam but someone jumped on her back.

She elbowed them on the stomach and threw them off, landing a front kick on the chest of the next person who came up to attack her. Five more shots. She narrowly ducked a blade slashing at her head and landed a hard gut punch that sent them flying.

Ten more shots. They were relentless in their assault, each downed enemy getting replaced with another. She was running out of ammo.

Yang punched and kicked as hard as she could, not even looking as each attack blurred into the next. She felt like she was making gains, over half of them were lying on the ground. But then a tall lizard faunus wielding a spear checked her kick with a scaled knee and she felt a sharp pain lance through her right shin from the impact.

She stumbled away, trying to shake out the pain but it persisted. Her leg was fractured. The remaining White Fang members seized their opportunity and attacked in full force.

Yang continued to fight but their numbers were too great. The last thing she remembered when she lost consciousness was getting hit in the back of the head by something that felt like a sledgehammer.

The next time she awoke, she was being dragged by the arms, her knees scraping the rough floor, down a dimly lit hallway. _Where was she?_ She vaguely recognized the scent of dust and motor oil in the air.

They brought her to a dark room with a single light bulb hanging over a chair and tied her to it. Her head bobbed and she lost consciousness again.

Yang woke up from a hard smack in the face. Adam leered over her, holding her prosthetic arm in his hands.

She stared up at him with pure hatred in her eyes.

He smirked and dropped the yellow and black arm to the floor, crushing it to pieces with a hard stomp.


	11. So Wrong

"Where is the relic?"

"Go fuck yourself."

_Wham._

* * *

"Where is the relic?"

"Your mother."

_Thwack._

* * *

"Where is the relic?"

"…Fuck… You…"

_Crack._

"Take it easy, Adam said to keep her alive."

"Oh she will be, just barely though," the guard said cracking his knuckles.

* * *

Ruby, Weiss and Blake stood huddled together in Lionheart's office watching a grainy video with static lines going across the screen. A blonde woman sat bound in a chair, hunched over with her head lolling back and forth.

A red-headed masked man in a suit came into the shot holding a red blade. He grabbed the woman's hair and snapped her head back. The camera moved in and showed a close up of the blonde's face.

The three girls gasped collectively in the office.

It was Yang, almost unrecognizable from the multitude of bruises and cuts on her face.

"We have your beloved huntress-in-training Yang Xiao Long," Adam Taurus sneered in the video.

Blake didn't know it was possible to take anymore punishment but her bruised, battered, blackened heart burst in her chest when she saw Yang's bloody face.

"Yang…" she whispered

"And if you want her back alive, you will hand over the relic to us in an agreed location in two days."

Adam pressed his blade across Yang's neck, drawing a thin line of blood and Blake thought she could actually feel the slice on her own skin.

"If that doesn't happen…" Adam took a moment to grin into the camera. "You will get her back in pieces…"

The video cut off after that.

Ruby covered her mouth and began sobbing. Weiss put her arms around her and held her tight, silently shedding tears.

Blake didn't cry. She had no right to cry. She did this. She drove her away. It was her fault.

Winter's face appeared on the communications screen, hard and grey like it was carved from stone. She had just watched what they had seen through video conference. Lionheart fiddled with his fingers and Ozpin avoided their eyes.

"We… We have to do something," Blake said.

"I'm afraid we don't know the whereabouts of Miss Xiao Long. The White Fang have taken her to a secret location."

"The relic…" Blake had no idea what it was. She didn't care what it was for as long as it got Yang back. "Give them the relic they want."

"The relic is located in a chamber deep in the academy, but the only one who can open the door is the Spring Maiden. Yang went on mission to try to find Raven and the Spring Maiden but she was captured…" Lionheart said uncomfortably.

 _Spring Maiden?_ Blake pressed her fists against her temples and shook her head to get her thoughts straight. She didn't know what they were talking about, all she knew was it wasn't helping Yang!

"The Atlesian army," Blake said turning to Winter. "Send the forces in to storm the White Fang, all their hideouts."

"We're in the middle of a war, Blake. Grimm numbers have increased exponentially since Salem's rise to power. We're being attacked on multiple fronts and our resources are stretched thin defending the cities. We cannot spare any forces for a rescue mission for one single person."

Blake stared at her incredulously. "You coldhearted bitch," she said.

"Blake!" Weiss exclaimed.

Only Blake knew the sordid details of their relationship. _So Yang was good enough to share her bed but not to rescue? Despicable._

"Let's calm down and give this situation some thought. We shall regroup later," Ozpin said quickly.

"Agreed," Winter said, and she signed off.

* * *

After the communication screen disappeared, Winter sat at her desk unmoving and in silence. In a flash of anger, she threw the communication device against the wall, shattering it to pieces.

She stood up and walked to the window with her hands folded behind her back, looking at the cold white Atlas landscape.

Truthfully, she would have gone to rescue Yang herself but she had no idea where she was being kept.

She had broken one of her cardinal rules to never to develop feelings for anyone. Never had she hated her stature and responsibilities as much as she did in that very moment.

"Oh, Yang…" she said sadly.

* * *

Later that day, Blake sat alone in her room methodically taking apart each piece of Gambol Shroud and laying it on the table. She cleaned the sight and barrel, filed down the nicks on the cleaver and sharpened the katana to a razor's sharp edge.

It was a familiar ritual, she'd done it countless times before every White Fang mission. Part of it was mental. In the act of taking apart and putting together her weapon, she would put away her thoughts and shut her feelings off. Detaching and steeling herself to achieve the objective.

This was the version of Blake Yang needed at this time. The soldier; cold, calculating, and analytical.

_'…_ _Give this situation some thought…'_

_'…_ _Regroup later...'_

_While Yang was suffering at the hands of that sadistic bastard. Who knew what he could be doing to her?_

Blake brought her fist down on the table, the solid gunmetal pieces bouncing from the impact.

She would go after Yang herself. She wouldn't put anyone else in danger, not Ruby, not Weiss. This was her mess and she would be the one to fix it. Even if she got caught, at least it would be just her, a payment fitting for all the pain she caused.

Blake counted every round in each of the magazines and filled a black knapsack full of explosives and ammunition.

If things worked out, maybe she would even get a chance at killing Adam once and for all.

* * *

Blake waited silently at the Mistral port until a large wooden ship came into view; reinforcements from Menagerie finally arriving to help defend the academy.

She scanned the faces of the people coming off the ship, there was one chameleon faunus that she was looking for.

"Ilia."

Ilia's blue eyes snapped up in surprise. She took in Blake's slightly disheveled appearance. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, her facial features twisted into a hard mask of concentration.

"Blake? Wow, you look like shit. What's wrong?"

"I don't have time to explain. I need your help."

Ilia stood up a little straighter. She owed Blake a lot for stopping her from making a terrible mistake.

"What can I do?"

"Do you still have your White Fang contacts?"


	12. Bide

Three days of interrogation, even Adam was surprised how much punishment the human could take. He stood outside the door looking through the slotted opening for a moment. She was weak and lethargic, not even looking up when he walked in the room.

"Today is the deadline," Adam said gloatingly, trying to get her attention. "There has been no response from Haven… I guess no one cares about you."

Yang started chuckling lowly.

Adam stepped closer out of curiousity. _Was the human finally going insane?_

"What's so funny?"

Yang was laughing full-out now.

"See you're a coward, Adam. I knew you would only come see me alone if you thought for sure I couldn't pose a threat."

_What?_

The temperature of the room began rising, imperceptibly at first but gradually becoming as hot as a furnace. Adam looked down at the girl in front of him, her hair was glowing an eerie gold light. He instinctively grabbed for his sword.

Without warning, Yang stood up and snapped the ropes.

* * *

_It was a clear crisp afternoon at the Haven Academy. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as Yang sat on her haunches in the sand of training ring, wiping the sweat off the back of her neck with a white towel._

_Her prosthetic lay off to the side. She found that she was comfortable not wearing it around Winter. The white-haired woman never looked at her any differently, with or without it._

_Yang watched as Winter practiced summoning her glyphs, easily making ten glyphs of different sizes appear in wide circle within an instant._

_"How do you do that?"_

_"Do what?"_

_Winter responded quickly and efficiently, always to the point._

_"Use your semblance so well. Mine is like an explosion… It affects my whole body, I don't even feel like I'm control half the time."_

_"Hmm…"_

_Winter walked up to her. "Close your eyes, Yang."_

_"What?"_

_"Just do it."_

_Yang reluctantly did as she was told._

_"I'm going to hit you now, and I want you to focus on holding your semblance in."_

_"Wait, what?-"_

_Winter struck her hard between the shoulder blades with the force of a white glyph behind her palm._

_Yang stumbled forward from the heavy blow. She could feel the telltale signs of her semblance begin to flare up, her eyes flickered to red and her hair started to glow_

_"Focus Yang."_

_Yang struggled to keep it tamped down. She imagined a flame that was burning inside her, trying to keep it small like a candle instead of a raging wild fire._

_Winter struck her again._

_"Ergh!" Yang grit her teeth and push down the flames flaring inside her, trying to control it._

_Winter struck her three more times._

_Yang was had her fists to the side, sweating and panting heavily from the exertion. Just when she thought Winter was going to hit her again, she leaned in close and whispered in her ear._

_"Now... Let go."_

_Yang's eyes opened and her semblance came to life. She felt an immense power flowing through her body, more than she ever felt before._

* * *

Adam tried to call for help on the radio but Yang kicked the walkie-talkie out of his hand. He scowled and pulled out his sword, barely getting it out in time to block a punch from a flaming fist aimed straight at his face. He stumbled back a few steps from the impact. She was frighteningly strong.

Adam wondered what was happening. No food, just a scant amount of water to keep her alive, daily beatings. _She was supposed to be weakened!_

The golden flames flared up from her body. Yang had been holding back her semblance for the last three days, biding her time for the right moment to unleash the energy.

She channeled more of her semblance to her left arm and injured right leg until she couldn't feel the pain from the break anymore. She scissor kicked him in the chest and threw a left hook that just missed by a hair.

The size of the room gave her the advantage, Adam didn't have the space or breadth to unleash his deadliest slashes, relegated instead to using shorter strikes and lunges as she fought him in close combat.

Yang leaned away fluidly from a cross slash and snapped back with a left jab and hard right kick at his midsection. Adam swung his sword in a wide arc, following up with a number of diagonal slashes. She ducked and weaved, narrowly avoiding each slice and countering with left-handed strikes.

He was looking at her left hand when he was cracked in the jaw unexpectedly by the hard muscle and bone of Yang's right shoulder as she jumped up into him.

Adam spun away, touching his fingers to the corner of his mouth. He looked at the blood staining the tips of his gloves and snarled, gripping his sword and lunging straight for her.

The fight was fierce. Yang was glad he was good. At least she didn't beaten by a bitch.

She kicked out his ankle and drove her right shoulder into his solar plexus, punching him repeatedly the ribs with her left fist. He grunted in pain, bringing down the pommel of his sword harshly on the back of her head in retaliation.

Yang grit her teeth and endured it, finding the strength to shove him away. She executed a right roundhouse kick, spinning into left jumping back kick that hit him squarely in the stomach.

Adam glared at her, hunched over with his chest heaving. Each hit chipped away at his aura. He couldn't believe he was actually losing the exchanges against a one-armed human. He was beyond livid. _This was completely unacceptable._

Yang walked threateningly towards him, flames aglow.

Adam retreated a few steps and sheathed his blade, twisting his body as he charged up his semblance.

Yang lunged forward, rearing her left fist. There was a flash of white light as he yanked out his blade in a vicious backswing aimed at her right side to cleave her chest in two.

The blade sunk in a half an inch into Yang's right upper arm before it snapped in half from the sheer force of her aura. He was left completely open for the left-handed straight punch that smashed his mask right into his face and sent him flying into the wall.

He lay there on the ground motionless for a moment before slowly getting up to his knees. He brought shaking fingers up to his eyes and let out a blood-curdling cry of pain.

"You bitch… You bitch! I'll kill you!" Adam yelled, fumbling blindly for his broken sword.

Blood spilled out from his eyes, the shards of the shattered mask deeply embedded in the vitreous humour.

Yang relaxed her stance as she watched him.

"I'll kill you… I'll kill you…" Adam muttered nonsensically as he crawled around the floor.

The flames subsided and Yang suddenly felt dizzy. She fell back on to the floor laughing.

She did it. She beat him. The man from her nightmares. Yang closed her eyes and smiled, letting the darkness overtake her.

* * *

An abandoned dust refinery on the outskirts of Mistral. Blake surveyed the tan coloured building under the cover of darkness. She climbed over the chain-linked fence and crept closer to the perimeter, checking the basement windows for any signs of Yang.

Suddenly she heard a loud bang, the sound of something hitting a hard surface with a tremendous impact. Blake ran around the corner toward the sound and peered through a dusty window.

Yang lay unconscious on the ground, her hair glowing softly in the dark. Blake shot the glass with her silenced pistol and broke through the window feet first. She was at Yang's side in an instant, fearing the worst.

She put her fingers against her neck, relief washing over her when she felt a pulse. It was weak but it was there. She heard a shuffling sound in the room.

Adam was crawling on his hands and knees, feeling around the ground, looking for something. Blood trickled down from his face in a steady stream. He appeared to be blinded.

Blake unsheathed her blade and stalked towards him. It would be so easy to end it there. Prevent him from ever hurting anyone again, pay him back for what he did to Yang, all the pain and suffering he caused.

Her hand trembled slightly as she gripped the handle of Gambol Shroud. She took a deep silent breath and pointed the tip of the blade at his neck.

"Don't Blake," a voice called out to her.

Blake spun around to see Yang looking at her, lilac irises stark and piercing in her heavily bruised eye sockets.

Yang shook her head slowly. "Don't…" she said. "Don't sink to his level… You're not a killer."

But she wanted to so bad! She wanted to kill him. She wished she was a killer. She wished she was strong enough.

Just then she heard footsteps barreling down the hall. The locked door rattled as the White Fang guards frantically tried to enter.

Blake went into action immediately. She set an explosive charge on the exterior wall just under the window she entered from and covered Yang with her body. She clapped her hands over her faunus ears as the concrete wall exploded with a loud bang.

Blake helped her sit up. "Can you walk?"

Yang looked at her and shook her head. The pain in her right leg was back in full force.

"Come on," Blake said gently, putting Yang's arm around her shoulders.

They climbed over the pile of debris and hobbled out of the massive hole in the wall. Blake could hear the door being broken down behind her, voices yelling as they rushed in the room. She ran away with Yang as fast as she could, leaving a few shadow clones in different directions to get them off their trail.

They disappeared into the forest, Blake half dragging and carrying Yang through the tall grass and rough dirt. She wasn't sure how long they had been running for when Yang pulled on her shoulder to get her attention.

"I need to sit down."

Blake double checked that no one was behind them and carefully lay Yang down against the base of a tree. She took a moment to inspect her injuries in the moonlight. Her entire body was black and blue. There were more bruises present than fair skin and blood caked her hair in multiple places.

Blake fought back the tears stinging her eyes. _Not here_ , she said to herself.

Yang gasped and wheezed as she struggled to catch her breath. "Blake…" she gasped. "Just leave me here and go."

Blake stared at her broken bleeding body. Did Yang seriously expect her to just leave her there half-dead?

"What?"

"Just… Leave me here…" Yang repeated weakly.

She searched Yang's face. She actually meant it. Blake's heart broke.

"No!" Blake cried.

Puzzled, Yang looked at her through a crack from one swollen eye.

In a flash of impulse, Blake grabbed her by the front of the shirt and kissed her roughly on the mouth, tasting iron and sweat.

Yang was too shocked to react. "Blake…"

Blake kissed her again and this time Yang kissed her back a little bit with her dry cracked lips.

"I love you," Blake said solemnly, voice threatening to break. "I'm in love with you. I was too much of a coward to tell you before but it's true." She stared deeply into her eyes. "I love you."

Blake let the admission hang in the air.

Yang stared back into Blake's eyes, completely stunned. After a long moment, she looked away sadly, slumping against the tree.

"Yang… Talk to me, please?"

"When you left…" Yang began. "It was like I couldn't even see the light of day. That's how dark it was."

Blake's heart beat painfully in her chest.

"Adam might be able to hurt me, but you have the power to _destroy_ me" Yang looked down at the ground. "I don't think I can handle it if you left again, it was too hard the first time…"

Blake clutched Yang's hand against her chest, wrist trembling from how hard she gripped it. She waited until Yang met her eyes.

"I swear on my life that I will _never_ leave you again!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any Pokemon Red/Blue fans out there? Yang in this story learns the TM Bide. Alright I'm kind of lame, don't hold it against me.


	13. Not Ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yang has issues.

Blake burst through the doors of the hospital carrying Yang in her arms. She was in and out of consciousness on their journey back, getting less and less responsive.

"Help!"

A group of nurses and doctors immediately came up to meet them. They placed Yang on a gurney and wheeled her to a room.

The doctors cut open her shirt. The whole left side of her torso was a sickly black colour.

"She has internal bleeding. Prep the operating room."

Yang looked up at the bright lights but her vision became black around the edges. She looked over at Blake who had tears in her eyes. For the first time since she was taken, Yang started to feel scared.

"Blake!"

"I'm here, Yang!"

It was starting to get dark, her eyes were wide open but she couldn't see a single thing. Yang stretched her fingers toward the sound of Blake's voice as the doctors placed a mask over her nose and mouth.

Blake returned the gesture, lifting her hand.

 _Please be okay..._ she prayed.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss ran up to Blake as she paced outside the operating room.

"Where is she?" Ruby asked breathlessly.

"She's in surgery. They said she had internal bleeding and a fractured leg."

Ruby covered her mouth and looked at the double doors anxiously. "What about you, Blake? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…" The words tasted like dust in her mouth,

Ruby hugged Blake tightly, taking her off guard. "Thank you... So, so much…"

Blake gently pulled her away. She had to explain what really happened. "I didn't do anything. When I got there, Yang had already beaten him..." _She saved herself_.

"What were you thinking going alone?" Weiss asked harshly. "You could have gotten hurt or worse!"

Blake looked down guiltily. She honestly didn't care about what would have happen to her as long as Yang was okay.

"Weiss…" Ruby said, touching her arm.

Weiss took a step back but shot Blake a look that said that they would discuss it later.

* * *

Blake stood at the foot of Yang's hospital bed, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she lay unconscious. The room was quiet except for the steady beep of Yang's heart rate monitor. Ruby and Weiss were passed out in the waiting room, exhaustion hitting them after Yang's seven hour operation.

Blake reached out despite herself, running the back of her fingers along Yang's bruised swollen cheek and her thumb over her split lip. She looked so frail. Her hair was tied in a loose pony tail, numerous bandages peeked out of her light blue hospital gown, and she had a white cast covering her right leg from the knee down.

How she defeated Adam with one arm and a broken leg was beyond Blake. Yang truly was strength itself.

Blake wrung her hands together until her knuckles went white. She was angry. So very angry at herself.

It wasn't fair that a person like her was unharmed and uninjured while Yang lay beaten and broken in a hospital bed. Yang gave so much while she only knew how to take. All she ever did was cause people pain. She was no better than _him_.

Blake tried to shake those thoughts away. They made her feel dark and sick inside.

She carefully crawled in beside Yang on her bed and touched her nose to the side of Yang's neck so she could inhale her scent and confirm she was real and still with her.

Blake knew it was selfish, knew she didn't deserve it but she couldn't help herself. _Come back to me please_ , she silently pleaded.

* * *

_Bright fluorescent lights, disembodied voices._

_"_ _Are you sure you don't want to take a break? Head back, get some rest?"_

_Her sister's voice._

_"_ _Thanks, but I want to be here when she wakes up."_

_Blake._

_"_ _Why is she healing so slowly?"_

_Weiss._

_"_ _The doctors think she overloaded her semblance. It will take some time for her aura to recover..."_

* * *

Yang slowly blinked her eyes open. She looked down at the flat spot beneath the hospital bed sheet on her right side and for one horrifying second, she thought she had gone back in time to when she had just lost her arm.

Pain lanced along her neck as she turned her head to the side. She saw Blake sitting asleep in the chair beside her bed. Unable to keep them open for any longer, Yang's eyes unwittingly closed again.

* * *

Blake woke up with her face and arms sprawled out on the side of Yang's bed spread. When she turned to look at Yang, she found her sitting up against headboard staring at her with wide purple eyes.

"Yang!" Blake was overwhelmed with relief.

"Are you real?'

"What?" Blake asked, confused. Yang had a strange look in her eyes.

"Are you real?" Yang repeated.

"Yang…"

Yang flinched away from her touch when Blake tried to reach for her. In the worst, darkest of her nightmares, Adam's form would morph into Blake and _she_ would deliver the killing blow.

"I'll go get the doctor…" Blake said after a pause.

* * *

After she was checked out, Ruby and Weiss were allowed into the room to see her.

"Yang!" Ruby rushed in and tackled her sister into a hug.

"Oomph!" Yang huffed, as the air left her lungs.

"Sorry! Are you okay, does anything hurt?"

Yang gently patted Ruby's back with her good arm. "I'm fine, just a little sore…"

"You had us all worried," Weiss said, warmly grasping her shoulder.

Yang put her hand over Weiss' hand and gave it a squeeze. "I know… I'm sorry…"

Ruby bit her lip hard and stared at floor. "Guys, can I talk to Yang alone?"

Blake and Weiss nodded and left the room.

Ruby stayed in Yang's room for over twenty minutes. Her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed when she came out. It was obvious she had been crying. She sniffled and managed a small smile at Blake and Weiss before walking away.

Weiss looked at Blake, understanding passing between them, and followed Ruby.

Blake entered the room and saw Yang in a similar state, staring straight ahead with pink sunken eyes, looking even smaller than before.

Yang rubbed her hand harshly across her face, swiping away some stray tears. _What the fuck was wrong with her?_ _Ruby already lost her mom. Was she so eager to add big sister to the list?_

Yang kept her mouth firmly closed but the sobs escaped through her nose in painful-sounding, high pitched squeaks. She stared ahead, focusing on her breathing until the shudders and tears subsided.

Blake gently set her hand on Yang's back between her shoulder blades. She didn't ask about it.

* * *

They spent the rest of the day in quiet, Blake sitting beside Yang as she lay on the bed.

Thankfully she didn't yell, or push her away. Maybe she didn't have the energy to. Yang seemed to accept her presence in the room without issue for now.

Eventually, Yang's eyelids fluttered and she fell asleep, the short period of wakefulness taking its toll on her exhausted body.

Blake curled in beside Yang as she slept, reaching across to lace their fingers together. She would be her shield and protector for as long as she would have her.

Blake felt Yang purposefully squeeze her hand in response and she almost cried.

* * *

There was a soft knock at the door. Blake had dozed off earlier. She quietly crept away from Yang and answered it.

Ice blue eyes stared back at her. It was Winter.

"What do you want?"

Winter looked surprised to see Blake. "I… I came to see Yang."

"You have some nerve coming here after what you did."

Winter glanced off to the side for one long moment. Blake thought she saw a hint of regret in her eyes.

"I had responsibilities… Duties to uphold."

"Did those include leaving Yang to die?"

Winter's expression hardened. "She'll get past this. Within a month she'll recover. But you? It took her almost a year after what you did."

Blake's fists tightened at her sides. Maybe they _would_ come to blows after all.

They stared at each other for several tense moments. Blake could feel the cold fury radiating off of her, the temperature decreasing with each passing second. Winter's arms twitched behind her back, Blake prepared herself for the hit but it never came.

Winter turned on her heel and walked away. Half way down the hall with her back turned, she said three more words. "Don't hurt her."

* * *

The next day Qrow came to see her.

"How are you doing, firecracker?"

Yang just shrugged.

Qrow spared a glance at Blake who was standing beside her like a silent shadow. He chose not to ask about it.

"I heard you're getting released soon. Ozpin and I think it's best that you go into hiding for a while until your new arm is ready…"

"Why?"

"Listen, Adam lost an eye in that fight. The White Fang are itching for revenge, they've put out a bounty on you, dead or alive."

"Let them come," Yang said. "I'm not afraid."

Blake sent a worried glance over at Yang.

"I know _you_ can handle yourself," Qrow said, looking at Yang straight in the eye. "But your leg is still broken and you are missing an arm. There's the safety of the others to think about."

"I get it," Yang said sharply. "You don't want a liability."

"It'll just be temporary," Qrow sighed. "Ironwood says it should take a month for the arm to be manufactured and sent to you. We have a safe house ready for you to wait-"

"I'm going with her," Blake said.

Qrow finally looked at Blake, acknowledging her presence. "Eh? Are you sure? Ruby can-"

"No. Just me." Blake left no room for argument.

Yang looked at Blake with a resigned expression on her face.

Qrow rubbed the back of his head and reluctantly agreed.

* * *

The safe house was located deep in the Mistral forest, accessible only through a steep mountain pass. Yang stared absently out the window in the back seat with Blake beside her as her uncle drove a black sedan on the dirt road.

Blake chewed on her lip and looked down at her hands. There was still a lot of tension between them. Yang was quiet and barely spoke two words since she woke up. They didn't talk about her confession or the kiss from that night. Did Yang forget it ever happened?

After a long drive, they finally arrived at the small two story house with a red clay tiled roof.

Blake went to trunk to get the wheelchair. She was just setting it up when Yang walked past her, hobbling inside the house with her crutch.

Qrow gave her a sympathetic look. "I'll check in after a few weeks. If anything happens, shine this light into the sky. I'll see it," he said pressing a small lantern device in Blake's hands.

Blake nodded and went inside. She stowed the lantern in the kitchen and explored the interior of the house, taking note of all the windows and exits.

Yang had already gone up the stairs to her room and did not come back down for the rest of the evening.

* * *

It was midmorning the next day when Blake built up enough courage to knock on her door.

"Yang? I brought you some breakfast," she said entering the room.

Blake took one look at Yang and was immediately anxious. Yang had dark circles under her red-rimmed eyes and was wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Nightmare of horns, red eyes, and Blake's bleeding body plagued her early in the night. She couldn't sleep after that. To make things worse, her right stump throbbed with phantom pain that had been ten times worse ever since her prosthetic was destroyed.

"Are you okay…?" Blake asked hesitantly.

Yang stared at her with blazing red eyes. "I'm missing an arm and my leg is broken. On top of that, I can't get rid of these stupid nightmares. Of course I'm not okay!"

Blake regretted asking such a stupid question.

"Why are you still here, Blake?" Yang asked bitterly. "Shouldn't you be off somewhere, hanging out with Sun?"

Blake winced, resisting the urge to clutch her chest. It was a twisting of a knife that she undoubtedly deserved.

"I'll just leave this here," Blake said, setting down the tray on the dresser.

"I'm not one of your pity projects!" Yang shouted. "Go back to Menagerie, back to your parents. Go back to not giving a shit about me!"

Blake's fist shook at her sides. Her nails dug into her palms leaving crescent shaped red marks.

"Yang…"

"Just go!"

She couldn't move, trying to process the hysterical edge in Yang's voice.

"Get out!"

Unable to take anymore, Blake ran out and slammed the door behind her.

Yang burst into tears as soon as the door closed. _Why did I say all that?_

But then after a few seconds, the door opened and Blake came rushing back, wrapping her into a hug.

"I'm not going anywhere!" she yelled. "You can try to push me away but I'll stand outside your door everyday if I have to. I'm not leaving you. Not now. Not ever!"

Yang tried to shove her away but Blake held fast. Her mind was a jumbled mess of conflicting emotions. She wanted Blake to go. She wanted Blake to stay.

Eventually, Yang resorted to clutching Blake's shoulders as they sobbed desperately together. She felt so messed up. How were they going to get through this, Yang wondered sadly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of sad huh? Please leave me a review, letting me know what you thought about it. It will help motivate me to get the next chapter out. 4 chapters left!


	14. Is Love Enough?

Blake heard grunts of exertion coming from the living room while she was reading in her room. She put down the book and went down the stairs to investigate.

Yang was doing one armed pushups, sweat dripping off her chest onto the mat beneath her.

"Shouldn't you be taking it easy?" Blake asked, looking at the dark bruises on her back that still needed to heal.

"I'm almost done," Yang said plainly.

Blake stood by the stairwell and watched, trying push down her worry. The last few days had been better, Yang only snapped at her a couple of times when she tried too hard to be helpful. She did her best to give her space even though it was the exact opposite of what she really wanted.

Yang finished her sets of pushups and then rolled on to her back to do crunches. Exercising was the only thing she could do to pass the time. It helped put her mind at ease and sleep better at night. She would have loved to go for a run but her leg was still in a cast.

Yang stood up slowly after completing her crunches. The tendons on the side of her neck jutted out prominently as she clutched her right shoulder. The phantom limb ached persistently like it was clenched in an awkward position. She shut her eyes tight and tried to imagine her wrist unbending and forearm relaxing.

Blake could see the pain on Yang's face, how she wished she could take it all away.

Yang took a few deep breaths. She noticed Blake watching.

"I'm going to go shower."

Blake looked at Yang wistfully. In another life at Beacon, Yang would have added, "care to join me?" in a lighthearted attempt at flirting and Blake would have rolled her eyes with a smile. But here in this house, Yang just gathered her things and went upstairs without another word.

Blake was brought back to the present moment by the sound of Yang's voice at the top of the stairs.

"Did you mean it?" she asked with her back turned.

Blake spun around to look up at her. Yang didn't have to say what she was referring to, they both knew.

" _Yes_ ," Blake said so seriously, her eyes watered.

Yang stood motionless for a moment and then continued walking to the bathroom.

Love was never the issue, Yang thought as she closed the door. Looking back at the times they spent together, it was never a question but there were other things… Honesty. Trust. Commitment. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, at the dark circles under her eyes and what was left of her right arm. Yang wasn't sure if love was enough.

* * *

"Score!" Yang said triumphantly. "I found the key to the liquor cabinet."

Blake looked on amusedly from the couch. Yang had been looking through all the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen for the past thirty minutes that evening.

It had been little over a week since they had arrived. The safe house was well stocked with food and water, a television set and several books to read but all of it couldn't stop Yang from going a little stir crazy.

Their interactions were tolerable. They could stand to be in the same room together, talking about lighter subjects like the weather, silly TV shows, and what they were going to eat for dinner. But Blake felt there was something off about their conversations, they never went any deeper than polite small talk or breached anything remotely serious.

It was almost like they were strangers.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Blake asked, watching Yang take out the bottles. "I don't think you're suppose to mix alcohol with your meds..."

Yang set her with a look. "I'll take the risk," she said. "What do you want to drink?"

"Nothing."

"Come on drink with me," Yang cajoled with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Blake looked at the dimple at the corner of Yang's half-crooked smile and was struck by how badly she wanted to kiss it.

"Okay…"

Blake went to the cabinet and selected an aged cognac. She poured herself two fingers into a glass tumbler with some ice.

"Ooo expensive taste."

Yang poured herself two shots of tequila, downing the contents of both before getting a bottle of beer.

"Let's play some drinking games," she said, sitting down on the rug in the middle of the living room.

Blake reluctantly followed her. She couldn't shake the feeling that Yang was trying to trap her or something.

They played some card games that almost always resulted in Blake taking a drink. Eventually, they somehow got into an impromptu game of Truth or Dare, Yang daring Blake to finish her drink, Blake daring Yang to cut a piece of hair off.

It was fun, Blake thought as the room began to spin. To drink and pretend things were normal for one night. Fun.

"Truth or dare?" Yang asked, taking a swig of her beer.

"Truth."

"When did you know you loved me?"

Blake nearly dropped the glass out of her hand. _That escalated quickly._ She swallowed hard.

"It was gradual… I think it really hit me when I saw you and Winter together. Your turn."

"Truth," Yang said.

Blake wanted to ask Yang the same question but she wasn't sure if she was ready to hear the answer. She downed her own drink.

"I don't want to play anymore," she said, getting up to her feet.

"Aw come on," Yang said, but her heart wasn't in it. She didn't really want to play anymore either.

* * *

A few days later, Blake heard something shatter on the main level. She jumped down the stairs with Gambol Shroud in her hands, expecting the worst. She ran into the kitchen and saw pieces of a broken plate on the floor and Yang getting a dust pan from the cupboard under the sink.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Yang said, bending down to the floor.

"Let me do that."

"No. I can do it myself," Yang said firmly.

She steadied the dust pan with her foot, and swept up the broken pieces with a small broom in her left hand.

"Why didn't you say goodbye?" Yang asked, after she dumped the pieces into the garbage.

Blake froze, startled by the sudden turn in conversation. Her throat constricted painfully. It was time for the truth.

"I knew if I saw you looking at me… All my resolve would be broken..."

In a moment of intense regret, Yang wished with all her heart that she had been awake that night.

Blake could her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She soldiered on.

"I used to look up to him… Adam… I used to like him... He was my ex… " _Mentor? Partner? Boyfriend?_ Blake was too ashamed to say, but she didn't have to. Understanding flickered across Yang's face.

"Yang, I watched him cut off the arm of the person I cared about the most." Tears streamed down her face. "I was so scared… I couldn't stand the thought of you getting hurt again because of me... I'm not worth it."

"Yes you are!" Yang burst out.

"You gave me so much and all I brought you was misfortune and pain. Even now, you got hurt again because I drove you away. You would have been better off if you never met me. Then you would have still had your…" She trailed off.

Yang looked at her. Really looked at her.

"You think I would willingly trade not knowing you for a stupid arm?"

Blake bowed her head in response, an imperceptible nod.

Yang was surprised Blake's could still stand with the amount guilt she carried. Past mistakes and regrets, circumstances she couldn't have possibly controlled, the weight of the world literally on her small slight shoulders.

The pain was laid bare for Yang to see now. Blake was just better at hiding it.

"Blake… You take too much on yourself… I never blamed you for this, not once."

"You should have. It was all my fault," Blake said, voice cracking.

"That night… I was so scared that I was going to lose you…" Yang began. "I wasn't thinking. I just rushed in. It was a stupid move." She pressed the palm of her hand into her eyes and started sobbing.

Blake gently pulled her hand away so she would look at her. She shook her head, crying.

"You saved me, I owe you my life."

"I would do it again," Yang said, nodding furiously. "All of it. I would do it again."

"Yang…"

Yang yanked her into a fierce hug, Blake sobbing against her collarbone.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you," Yang said tearfully into her hair.

"Don't be. I deserved every bit of it."

"I was so mad at you for leaving. I thought you didn't care… But now I understand how scared you were. You were hurting too, Blake!"

Yang tried to hold her tighter but Blake pulled away.

"Yang, I need to know… Do you love me?" she asked in a small voice, fear rising to her throat.

Yang cupped her cheek and kissed her softly. It was nothing like Blake's clumsy attempts the night she rescued her. It was a real kiss, warm and sweet.

When she finally pulled away, Yang's smile was kind.

"Do you have to ask?"

Blake's mouth fell open in shock. She was the one to initiate this time. She held Yang's face in her shaking hands and they kissed, over and over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Preview of next chapter:
> 
> "Blake…" Yang panted against her lips. "Let's go inside."


	15. At Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so the physical expression of love... This chapter gets kind of explicit, I guess? Nothing kinky or anything like that though. I'm going for loving and sweet, I hope that shines through.

 

* * *

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and Blakey!" Yang said, leaping into Blake's bed.

Blake flipped the hair away from her face and fixed Yang with a worried gaze. "Yang, your cast."

Yang just shrugged, she was on all fours, hovering over Blake. "Morning?"

Blake's expression softened. She gently cupped the side of Yang's face, wanting to shed tears of joy for how freely she could touch her.

Yang closed her eyes and sighed into the touch.

I don't deserve you… Blake murmured quietly to herself as she stroked Yang's hair behind her ear.

Yang leaned in and bumped their foreheads together. "Hey, enough of that." She had heard what she said.

They set up a few ground rules shortly after that day; no more talk about _that night_ , no more apologies, and no more talk about being not worth it or undeserving.

Blake took a deep shaky breath, grateful to just share the same air as Yang. "I won't know what I'm doing," she confessed. "I've never been in a healthy relationship before…"

"We'll figure it out together," Yang said, grasping the hand on her cheek and pecking Blake on the lips.

* * *

"Can I sit beside you?"

Yang looked over from the couch and smiled, surprised Blake still asked for permission to be close to her. She wanted to tell her that she was being silly, that she didn't have to ask but considering how she acted before and she understood why.

"Sure."

Blake gingerly curled herself against Yang's side, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Action or comedy?" Yang asked, picking up the remote and pointing it at the TV.

* * *

Yang's eyelids felt heavy as the credits began to roll, Blake's warmth making her sleepy. She glanced over at Blake and realized she had been watching her for the last few minutes.

"Can I kiss you?" Blake asked.

So adorable, Yang thought, gazing at the nervous look in her eyes. "You don't have to ask every time…" she mumbled as she tilted her head and parted her lips against Blake's mouth.

They melted into it, the kiss heating up quickly as they tried to get closer, deeper.

They kissed for a long time. Blake's hand was halfway up Yang's shirt, fingers stroking along the dips and ridges of her ribs where the breaks had just recently healed over. Her fingertips had just grazed the underside of her breast when Yang gently took her hand and set it down on her lap.

Try as she might, Blake couldn't hide the disappointment on her face as they stopped to catch their breath. Yang had jumped into bed with Winter so quickly. Did she not want her the same way? Was she still angry—

"Hey…" Yang said, nudging her nose against hers. "I just want to take things slow for a bit. I don't want to mess this up."

Blake was surprised that Yang would think _she_ would be the one to mess things up.

"Okay."

Slow was okay, Blake told herself. Slow was good. She could do slow. They had waited so long already, what was another couple of weeks? But that was the thing, they had waited so long already, Blake didn't want to wait anymore.

* * *

They grew closer over the next two weeks, holding hands on the couch and exchanging goodnight kisses before bed. Still separate rooms and beds though to Blake's mild disappointment.

On one of their typical nights, Yang was watching TV and Blake was curled up against her reading a book.

It was getting late. Blake got up and stretched, rolling out the vertebraes of her back. The hem of her black and white yukata rode up ever so slightly to expose the back of her thighs, a detail that Yang did not miss.

Yang stared at the skin on the back of her pale slender neck as she tied her hair up in a messy bun.

"I'm going to take a bath," Blake said, glancing back at Yang. She paused when their eyes met.

Yang was watching her with open need and hunger in her eyes. She quickly looked back at the TV screen, her cheeks tinged with a blush of pink.

_Oh._

It was all Blake could do to not go over and straddle her hips, kiss her until they forgot their names. But she knew where exactly it would lead. They should probably wait until the cast is off before they...

It was Blake's turn to turn pink. She had been fantasizing for weeks of what she wanted to do to Yang, to show her how much she loved her. She wanted to make love to Yang so bad, the anticipation building to a point where it actually hurt.

* * *

It had been almost four weeks at the safe house. Yang's new arm was due to arrive any day now. It was also time for the cast to come off.

Blake took out the surgical saw with the instructions the hospital gave her when they had left. Yang was sitting on one of the kitchen table chairs with her casted leg outstretched on another chair.

"Ready?"

Yang nodded.

Blake turned on the saw and carefully started to cut through the molded plaster, making sure not to go too deep and hit her leg. When the cast was finally off, Yang let out a long drawn out, illicit-sounding moan that made Blake blush.

"Fuck yeah…" Yang sighed, reaching down to scratch at the pink, dry skin of her shin.

* * *

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Blake asked, after they had finished dinner.

"Sure."

It was a beautiful evening. The shattered moon shone high in the sky, clear with just a few clouds on the horizon. Blake linked her fingers with Yang's and they started walking together on the moonlit forest trail.

The night air was cool and slightly humid. It smelled like dewdrops and green blades of grass. There was a soft breeze that rustled through the leaves. It sounded like the sea.

Yang sighed and looked up at the stars. It was truly beautiful. She found that she could appreciate it now.

"Nice night, huh?"

Blake smiled, reminded of the night at Beacon when they first met. "Yeah.

They did a slow loop on the winding trail, returning to the place they set out from.

The house was in view when it started to rain. Yang gasped as fat rain drops splashed on to her back. Blake laughed and ran them under a tree, the broad leaves offering some protection from the nighttime shower.

For a moment, they just looked in each other's eyes, smiling broadly with happiness. The smiles eventually faded, replaced with desire when they realized how hungry they were for each other.

The timing was a bit off, Yang getting a brief swipe of tongue across her teeth when they both leaned at the same time. The kiss was tender and soft at first but it gradually burned away to something deeper. Yang managed to suck in a quick breath before Blake surged forward again and reclaimed her lips as her own.

Yang whimpered softly into her mouth and pulled Blake in close with a hand at the small of her back, pressing their fronts flush together.

Blake could feel every dip and curve, the shuddering hitch of each shaky inhale. She loved the taste of her mouth and the sweet scent of her breath exiting her nose. She tilted her chin so she could deepen the kiss even further, tongue gliding to the back of her throat as Yang gripped the back of her shirt.

They broke apart gasping with their foreheads tapped together and the tips of their noses touching when the need for air became too great.

"Blake…" Yang panted against her lips. "Let's go inside."

Blake took her by the hand and ran toward the house. Their mouths crashed together as soon as the door shut and they continued to kiss as they maneuvered up the stairs, not wanting to break contact for even a single second.

They bumped into the doorway of the bedroom as they stumbled in, giggling as they broke apart.

Blake held Yang's face for a moment, fingertips running over her flushed cheeks and lips. "Are you sure?"

Yang gently held Blake's right hand against her cheek. "Yes. Are you?"

Blake smiled. "Yes."

They began kissing again as they moved closer to the bed.

Blake gently pushed Yang down on the soft mattress and straddled her hips. She carefully lifted Yang's tank top over her head, her large breasts bouncing slightly as the garment was pulled off. Yang never wore bras when she was at home.

Blake's mouth fell open as she took in the sight of smooth tanned skin and perfectly round curves. Attempting to regain some semblance of composure, she pulled off her own shirt and undid the clasp on her black bra, sliding down the straps over her arms.

Yang looked up at her in awe, completely mesmerized. Her left hand trembled as she reached up to cup Blake's right breast.

Blake shivered from her touch, sparks snapping through her body as the pad of Yang's thumb brushed over the rosy peak of her nipple. She bit back a moan, and slid her hands down over hard abdominals to the waistband of Yang's shorts, gently tugging them down.

Yang was wearing purple underwear with a lacey edge. Blake pressed her nose against the front of the fabric and inhaled deeply. Yang smelled so good, the floral scent of laundry detergent mixed with the sweet scent of her arousal. Blake kissed her crotch through the damp cotton and slowly pulled the panties off her legs.

Blake lay herself down on top of Yang and kissed her tenderly on the mouth. She slid her own tights and black panties down her thighs, rubbing her legs together to shimmy them off.

The warm skin to skin contact was almost too much to bear as Yang wrapped her arm around her and pulled her close, breasts overlapping, naked bellies and thighs sliding sensually together.

This was really happening. Part of Blake couldn't believe it. Months, maybe even years of longing finally culminating in this one moment. Unable to hold it in anymore, she buried her face in the crook of Yang's neck, crying.

"Blake?" Yang asked softly. "We don't have to do this if you don't want-"

"No, I want to!" Blake said. "I'm just so happy… I can't believe this is real."

"Me too."

Blake laughed and kissed her firmly through her tears, hunger and desire getting rekindled with each touch of their lips. She nosed down the curve of her jaw and began kissing the side of her neck, taking some time to suckle her pulse point.

Yang brought her back up for another deep kiss that left them both breathless. Blake smiled into it, dragging her lips lower to kiss along her collarbone and shoulder to her right upper arm. She tenderly touched her lips to the puckered scar tissue. She could feel Yang shiver.

"You are so beautiful," she murmured.

Yang tenderly caressed her cheek with her hand, and Blake nuzzled into her palm. She gasped when Blake took her thumb into her mouth and gently bit down the tip, staring heatedly into her eyes.

Blake brought her hands up and grasped at Yang's breasts, gently kneading each one. She laid a kiss on her sternum before darting down to wrap her lips around a warm, peach-colored nipple. She loved the creamy taste and how it stiffened in her mouth.

Yang whimpered quietly as Blake moved on to the other breast, lightly grazing the soft peak with her teeth and sucking.

She felt Yang's thighs twitch beneath her hips. Blake locked eyes with her and let go of her nipple with a pop. She slowly kissed down her stomach to the neatly trimmed patch of dark blonde hair above her sex.

Blake could smell how aroused Yang was and it made her mouth water. She took a deep breath as she gazed upon her pink glistening flesh. Yang was _so_ wet. She wanted to taste her. Take her into her mouth and swallow her whole.

Blake gently spread her lips apart with her thumbs and ran the flat of her tongue from her entrance to just under her clit, hearing a long quivering gasp escape from Yang's mouth. She tasted amazing, sweet and salty, with just a hint of musk.

Blake leaned in and continued with her long, languid licks, lightly flicking her clit with the tip of her tongue with each pass. She slid her hand over Yang's stomach and chest as she worked, grasping and feeling everything she could possibly reach.

Yang groaned and clutched the sheet in a white-knuckle grip, muscles trembling and tensing with each slow stroke.

"Blake…" Yang gasped.

"I love the way you say my name…" Blake murmured. She wanted to hear it again.

Yang's hips arched right off the bed during one particular slow stroke and Blake seized the opportunity to slip her tongue inside. Yang cried out loudly in response.

Slow. Achingly slow, Blake took her time exploring every crevice and fold.

"Blake," Yang gasped. "I-I'm gonna come."

Blake shook her head. _Not yet._ She could feel Yang's pulse throbbing against her tongue. She delved in deeper, her nose bumping into the hard nub of her clit with each lick and swallow. Yang's taste filled her mouth, even stronger from the source. She couldn't get enough.

Yang was gasping and whimpering. She was so close, each touch and sensation threatening to push her off the edge. It was at that moment that Blake pressed the pad of her thumb against her clit and rubbed in a slow circle.

Yang went stock-still, moaning as her inner walls contracted and fluttered around Blake's tongue. Clear, sticky nectar gushed out of her and Blake eagerly lapped it up, not letting a single drop go to waste. She kept up with her slow thorough licks as Yang came down, circling the tip of her tongue around her clit.

When the shakes subsided and Yang's breathing slowed, Blake met no resistance as she slid two fingers all the way into her and began thrusting in measured strokes, back and forth.

Yang groaned lowly. She could feel the pressure building again, Blake's fingers stretching and spreading her apart. She let out a loud choked-off moan as they curled in come-hither motion and found a certain spot inside her.

Sensing that she was close, Blake increased the pace of her fingers and took Yang's clit into her mouth, lightly sucking on the hardened bud.

Yang gasped and twisted her fingers in Blake's hair. "Fuck!"

With the slightest graze of teeth on her oversensitive bundle of nerves, Yang came spectacularly for the second time, her entire body shuddering and arching off the bed.

Blake held fast, pressing the flat of her tongue against the pulsating nub with unyielding pressure as she slowed the pace of her fingers.

"Unnhh…"

Yang slowly released the grip she had on her hair. She watched transfixed as Blake withdrew her fingers and brought them to her mouth, licking them clean, one at a time.

Blake rested her head on Yang's thigh and watched her in return, laying a few soft kisses along the dips of her hip bones. Her own arousal was getting difficult to ignore, a steady ache building between her legs. She placed a final kiss on Yang's clit, smiling when her hips jumped up suddenly.

Blake sat up on her knees and grasped her thighs, settling in between them.

"Blake… What are you doing?" Yang asked, her body still getting rocked by a few aftershocks working through her system. She had just climaxed twice in short succession. As good as it felt, Yang wasn't sure how much more pleasure she could take.

But all coherent thought was lost when Blake slowly rolled her hips forward, bringing their most sensitive areas together.

Blake let out a long fluctuating moan as she ground into her. Yang felt _so_ _good_ , like they were meant to fit together. Hot and wet, sweet friction. She wasn't sure how long she could last but she was determined to give Yang one last orgasm before the night was over.

 _I love you_ , she thought with each thrust. _I'm in love with you_.

Yang looked up with her half-lidded eyes and they made eye contact, intense and unwavering. She clutched at Blake's shoulder and pulled her down for a deep kiss, wrapping her legs around her back.

They continued to rock with each other as the exchanged sloppy open-mouth kisses, Yang's legs tightening around her, the need for contact becoming more urgent.

Blake came first, whimpering into Yang's mouth, the sound getting swallowed by their firmly attached lips. Her pace became erratic, Yang's hips following hers as they roughly grinded together.

Yang broke the kiss and moaned as she came for the third and final time, trembling and shaking from the sheer force of the sensation.

They fell back on the sheets with their legs still intertwined and chests heaving, sticky and satisfied.

Tears of joy flowed freely from Blake's eyes. Never in her life did she dare hope that she could feel this happy. She was so in love with Yang.

Yang pulled Blake to her chest and stroked her hair tenderly. "It's okay… It's okay…" she whispered. "Let it all out…"

"I love you…" Blake breathed into her neck.

"I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is! I always think smut is more satisfying when it is worked up to. I mean we've had 14 chapters of angst in this story so hopefully it was good? One chapter left of the main story and then an epilogue chapter.


	16. A Symbol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more bumbleby loving then it's time to wrap this up :).

The bright midmorning sun filtered through the curtains as Yang slowly blinked her eyes open. She yawned, the skin of her naked body sliding against the cool cotton sheets as she turned over to look at Blake who was still sleeping beside her.

Yang smiled as she gazed upon her face. She looked so peaceful, her skin glowing in the morning light, lips slightly parted as she breathed softly through her mouth. _Sleeping beauty_ , Yang thought as she ran a thumb along the curve of her cheek and over her bottom lip.

She blushed when she remembered the hot imprint of her mouth against her heated skin. Yang had never felt so loved in her life, Blake had definitely showed her last night. Yang smirked mischievously. She would have to find _some way_ to repay her this morning. Unable to wait any longer, she leaned in and softly kissed Blake on the mouth.

Blake hummed contentedly with her eyes still closed and smiled into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Yang's neck to pull her closer. Yang tilted her head to deepen the kiss, tongue dipping in to lightly tease and taste.

They kissed until they ran out of breath, Yang panting slightly as she ended the kiss with their lips still touching. She softly pecked Blake two more times on the mouth before laying back down on her side, facing her.

"Hey…"

"Hey…" Blake replied, looking into her eyes.

She reached over and tucked a lock of golden hair behind Yang's ear, stroking the side of her face with the back of her fingers. She was so heartbreakingly beautiful. Blake just had to touch her to make sure it wasn't a dream.

Yang took her hand and kissed her palm. "Last night was the best night of my life."

Blake smiled. "Me too."

Yang's cheeks dimpled as her mouth stretched into a gleaming smile.

 _God she's beautiful_ , Blake thought again. She trailed her fingers down Yang's side, hand nestling nicely along the curve of her hip.

For a while, Yang closed her eyes and let herself be touched, Blake's fingers sliding softly along her skin. The bed smelled like sleep-warmed skin with a hint of dried sweat and a sweetness that she couldn't identify. _This must be what heaven feels like_ , Yang thought. Then she remembered what she wanted to do that morning.

In one smooth motion, Yang rolled on top of Blake and kissed her firmly on the lips.

Blake kissed her back, whining when Yang pulled away to lay little kisses on her forehead and her cheeks. She kissed under her ear and along her neck, working her way down to her chest.

Each kiss sent shockwaves of pleasure through Blake's body. She sighed blissfully. "What are you doing?"

"Returning the favour…" Yang mumbled, lips in the indent of Blake's collarbone. "Someone did all the work last night."

"I wanted to…" Blake said, voice pitching a little as Yang kissed along the swell of her breast.

"Now I want to," Yang said, taking a hard pink nipple into her mouth.

Blake whimpered from the sensation. Yang's mouth was so hot, each lick of her tongue setting her nerves on fire. She bit down on the stiffened peak and Blake saw white. Yang soothed the sting with few gentle sucks then kissed over to the other nipple, giving it the same treatment.

Too soon, Yang moved lower, continuing her slow exploration of Blake's body. She trailed kisses down Blake's chest, down to the soft spot just underneath her ribs. She paused over the crisscrossed scar on her abdomen, running a thumb over the raised line of darkened flesh before tenderly pressing her mouth to it in the softest of kisses.

Blake gasped and shivered, every kiss simultaneously breaking her down and putting her back together again.

Yang continued downward, skimming past her hip bone, past the place Blake needed her the most. She kissed down her thigh, the spot behind her knee, her calf, the inside of her ankle. She gently spread her legs apart and looked up, taking a moment to admire her prize.

She could see how wet Blake was getting and it excited her greatly, the anticipation bubbling over at the prospect of tasting her.

Yang worked her way up, kissing up her leg to the crease of hip and thigh. She kissed the bare skin of her mound and took a deep inhale through her nose. Blake smelled amazing, arousal mixed with her lavender body wash.

"Yang… Please," Blake pleaded.

Yang obliged, tilting her chin down and carefully parting her with a long slow stroke from her tongue.

Blake writhed under her touch, tension coiling deep within her belly. She wanted nothing more than Yang, her mouth, her fingers, every single piece of her, taking her in until they were one beneath the sheets, sharing the same soul.

"You taste so good…" Yang murmured as she slowly lapped along the length of her open slit.

Blake moaned, tentatively threading her fingers through Yang's hair as her back arched off the bed. Yang gently pressed her hips back down with a strong hand, continuing with her long, slow licks as Blake grinded subtly against her mouth.

Yang sucked her clit between her lips and Blake clamped her thighs hard around her shoulders, digging the heel of her foot into her back.

"Yang!"

Yang glanced up, her eyes intense and unwavering as she held Blake's gaze. "Say it again," she said in a raspy, ragged voice.

Blake blushed, recoiling from the drop in pressure. "Yang…" she whispered.

Yang gazed adoringly into Blake's eyes as she slowly dragged the flat of her tongue firmly across her clit.

Blake hissed with pleasure, drawing a sharp inhale through her teeth. "Yang…"

Yang repeated the action without breaking eye contact. A quaking tremor ran through Blake's body.

She did it again.

And again.

And again, until Blake came undone with a shaky string of gasps and whimpers, sobbing out her name in the midst of her release.

Yang raised her head and rested her cheek against Blake's pelvic bone as she watched her recover.

Blake lay on the rumpled sheets with a forearm across her eyes, chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath.

"How was it?" Yang asked sincerely after her breathing slowed.

Blake took a few strained breaths. "Come here," she said, finding the strength to pull Yang up for a deep kiss. She could taste herself on Yang's tongue. "That was amazing…" She kissed her nose. "Thank you."

Blake guided Yang onto her back and lay down beside her, nestling her thigh between her legs. She cradled Yang's neck with her arm as she leaned over her and gazed into her eyes. She paused for a moment before kissing her softly and spreading her other hand over the toned muscles of her stomach.

"Blake?" Yang mumbled between kisses. "Are you sure? You just came."

Blake gently bit down on Yang's bottom lip and pulled away with a tug. "Yes. I need to touch you."

She slid her hand lower, stroking along the satiny skin of Yang's inner thigh with feather-like touches before slowly running her fingers back up. She bit back a moan when she made contact. Yang was hot, swollen and wet.

Yang's eyes fluttered closed and she let out a shaky exhale when Blake started rubbing slow circles around her clit.

They both let out a quiet, collective moan when Blake finally penetrated her with two fingers.

Blake closed her eyes, savoring the sensation of wet heat and oneness, before drawing her fingers out and pushing them back in with the same controlled pressure. She found a rhythm, focusing on precision and depth instead of speed.

Blake pulled back an inch from the kiss and waited until Yang met her gaze again. She softly licked across Yang's parted lips from the bottom to the top, catching the tip of her tongue just inside her mouth. Yang's mouth went slack and she met Blake's next lick with her own, stroking sensually against her with her tongue.

The kiss was wet and animalistic, tongues tasting and touching. Through it all, Blake's rhythm never slackened, fingers thrusting in, curling and dragging sinfully across the velvety patch of flesh along Yang's front wall.

"Holy shit…" Yang gasped during a particularly long and drawn out stroke.

Blake chuckled softly.

Yang closed her eyes as Blake kissed her temple and began whispering into her ear. She said beautiful, sexy things. Yang couldn't catch all the words, her mind going blank every time Blake hit that _one spot_ , but she could hear the growl in her smoky, smooth monotone and it turned her on immensely.

"You feel _so good_ … I want you. So much…" Blake said, dipping in to kiss her again.

Yang could only sigh in response, returning each kiss automatically as she tangled her fingers at the base of Blake's scalp.

Blake could feel Yang getting tighter, warm ridges gripping her fingers harder with every withdraw. She rose up on her elbow to gain more leverage, increasing her pace like she was running up a mountain, scrambling those last few steps to reach the peak. She kissed Yang again, solidly reconnecting their lips.

Low whimpers emanated from the back of Yang's throat as the force of each thrust rocked her body and grinded the heel of Blake's palm into her clit.

"Yang?" Blake murmured against her lips. "Open your eyes. Look at me, please."

With a great effort, Yang opened her eyes to see intense amber irises with pupils blown black with desire boring into her. She held Blake's gaze for as long as she could until it became too much, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as her mouth fell open in a soundless cry.

Blake continued thrusting into her, kissing the outline of her name on Yang's lips as she came.

Yang moaned, her eyes shut tight as endorphins flooded her brain in a massive head rush. A high-pitched tone filled her ears as she drifted back to herself. The sound eventually fading until all she could hear were Blake's labored breaths.

She opened her eyes to see Blake staring back at her with eyes that were shiny and wet, smiling steadfastly through the tears. It was then when Yang saw it; the glimmer in the softest shade of amber, her slightly pained smile, how Blake looked at her like _she_ was her entire world… All the ways she loved her.

Yang blinked away the tears clouding her own vision. _Things were going to be alright after all._

* * *

Yang shielded her eyes from the afternoon sun as she looked up at the airship passing overhead. With surprising accuracy, a single grey package floated down with a white parachute, landing in the backyard.

Blake was sitting at the kitchen table when Yang brought the long rectangular box into the house. They both knew what it was.

The arm was a bright and shiny silver, an exact replica of the prosthetic Yang had before. Blake watched with fascination as Yang connected the limb, the gears quietly whirring as she tested each finger. Yang made a fist, twisted her wrist this way and that, examining the full range of motion until she was completely satisfied.

Yang turned to Blake with a smile that faded when she noticed the downcast look on her face. She could tell she was thinking about it, that terrible night. The metallic arm was just another reminder for her.

Blake excused herself and left the room. Yang let her go, deciding to give her space.

* * *

It all came to ahead three nights later. Yang was making adjustments to her arm with a small screwdriver at the kitchen table while Blake was at the counter, prepping some vegetables for dinner.

Blake had been feeling off all week, ever since the package arrived. Her chest felt tight every time she looked at Yang's arm but she found that she couldn't _not_ look at it. She tried to act normal but it was no use, Yang was deeply attuned with all her intricacies now and she couldn't hide the look in her eyes.

Flesh and bone replaced with cold, unyielding metal, a cruel mimicry of what Yang used to have. She could never touch the way she used to. She would never have the same _feeling_ ever again. All because of her.

Too busy watching Yang from the corner of her eye, the knife slipped off the edge of a carrot and sliced into the tip of her finger. "Ouch!"

Yang was at her side in an instant. "Let me see," she said reaching for her hand.

Blake startled, inadvertently yanking her hand back when the metallic fingers touched her. She watched helplessly as Yang's face fell.

"Cold," she tried to explain, but the blonde's frown only deepened. She cursed her poor choice of words, _why did she always say the wrong thing_?

Blake looked down at the small bleeding knick on her finger unable to look into Yang's eyes.

"Blake, let's talk."

"It's fine. I was just startled-"

" _Blake_."

When she looked up and saw the resolute expression in Yang's eyes, Blake knew she couldn't run away from this. They walked over to the living room where she joined Yang on the couch, facing each other with their knees almost touching.

"I know it's still hard for you to look at," Yang began.

Blake tried to protest but Yang held up a hand to stop her.

"You know I don't regret it, right?"

Blake knew. Deep down, she knew. That Yang would do _anything_ for her, _sacrifice anything_ for her. It's what made her heart soar to unbelievable heights but at the same time, scared her right down to her very bones.

"So how about…" Yang said, taking her hand into hers. "Instead of it being a reminder of what he did to me… Of what happened that night… Can you try to see it as a symbol of how much I love you?"

 _How much she loved her?..._ Blake repeated the words over and over in her head. She didn't realize she was crying until Yang cupped her cheek with her prosthetic hand, wiping away the tears.

"Yeah…" Blake sobbed out. She looked at Yang and managed a teary-eyed smile. "I can try."

Yang leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. She rested their foreheads together. "I love you."

"I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One epilogue chapter left! Don't be shy, please leave a review if you can, I love reading them.


	17. Epilogue

Yang dove face first into the sand, narrowly avoiding the Death Stalker's tail strike. The Grimm reared up on its hind legs, razor sharp pincers ready to snap at the blonde's wrists which were up and extended, shooting round after round into its hissing mouth. Then suddenly, the eight glowing red eyes went black, as the Death Stalker fell over dead.

Blake stood triumphantly with her heel at its neck, sheathing Gambol Shroud on her back. The Grimm began evaporating when she gracefully leapt off in one flip, landing on the sand.

"Nice one, Blakey!" Yang said.

Blake smiled at Yang, striding over to check her for injuries. Satisfied after her examination, she grasped Yang's face with soft hands and pulled her into a long, deep kiss.

"Ugh, get a room!" Weiss exclaimed as she clambered over the sand dune. She was smiling when she said it though.

Blake shot her an unconcerned glance before turning back and pecking Yang several more times on the lips. The blonde just grinned like a love-struck fool the entire time.

Weiss shook her head in mock-exasperation. Those two _still_ had it bad for one another. She remembered the first time she saw them kiss at the train station in Atlas, two years ago.

* * *

_Yang and Blake stepped off the train with their luggage in tow and content smiles on their faces._

_"_ _Guys!" Ruby said, running up to meet them._

_"_ _Ruby!" Yang set down her yellow duffel bag and wrapped her in a hug. "I missed you, sis."_

_Weiss turned to the raven-haired faunus and touched her arm. "How are you, Blake?"_

_"_ _Good. It was a long train ride but we made it here in one piece."_

_"_ _Ooo, I can't wait to show you the Atlas academy, it's so cool! The technology they have here is amazing!"_

_"_ _Lead the way, Rubes."_

_Yang was about to pick up her bag but Blake got there first, opting to carry it for her. She smiled and gave Blake a brief kiss on the lips in thanks. After a few weeks of being alone together, it was like second nature, Yang didn't even think about it until she saw Ruby and Weiss's flabbergasted expressions._

_"_ _When did that happen?" Weiss asked, her mouth still hanging open in shock._

_Yang shrugged. "We worked things out," she said with a touch of bashfulness. "I love her and she loves me… Aaand that's all that matters."_

_Blake nodded, a small beautiful smile gracing her features. She held Yang's hand, flesh and metal fingers laced together, and they walked forward together._

* * *

Blake discreetly leaned in towards her partner as they were walking back to the Vacuan town. "I'm totally going to fuck you senseless when we get to the room later," she whispered into Yang's ear.

"Oh? Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise," Blake said, not missing a beat.

"We'll you better make good on that Belladonna or I'll…"

Blake's eyes widened as Yang whispered into her ear. She went red right from her neck to the tips of her human ears. _Dammit Yang!_ In the rare times she initiated dirty talk, Yang always managed to be the one to get _her_ flustered.

Yang winked and walked ahead of her, leaving Blake standing in place for one long moment.

* * *

Blake ended up keeping her promise later that day at the inn.

Yang bit her knuckle as Blake fucked her steadily into the sheets without a shred of mercy.

Blake shifted her position, pressing her front along Yang's back. She clasped her hand and gently pulled it away.

"I want to hear you…" she said, kissing the side of her sweat slicked neck.

Yang shut her eyes and groaned.

Blake continued with her rough pace until she felt Yang's inner walls clamping down hard on her thrusting fingers. With surprising strength, Blake flipped her over, holding Yang's hips down and still as she lapped along the length of her with firm broad strokes until she came over and over into her mouth.

Blake sat back on her heels, her chin dripping wet, smirking as she admired her handiwork. Yang was reduced to a quivering mess and she took no small amount of pride for being the cause of it.

She didn't expect however, for Yang to regain her second wind so quickly when she grabbed her ass and yanked her forward to a straddling position over her face. Blake just barely had enough time to grab the headboard to maintain her balance, breath quickening in anticipation as she watched the corners of Yang's mouth curl into a predatory smile.

"My turn," Yang said, staring up at her with smoldering red eyes.

* * *

An hour later, they laid awake contentedly together, skin tacky with perspiration as they let the air conditioning draft over their naked bodies.

Blake absentmindedly stroked Yang's hair as the blonde rested her head against her chest, lips puckering against her collarbone. The fingers of her other hand went over the bumps and ridges of Yang's left set of ribs, two of them never quite healing as straight as the others.

"What are you thinking?" Yang asked.

Blake sighed. She knew she was being silly. It had been almost two and half years since it happened but the memories of Yang in the hospital broken and beaten were still fresh.

"I'm thinking about how lucky I am to have you," she answered honestly.

Yang sat up a little straighter and laced their fingers together, bringing them up to her lips to press a kiss to the back of Blake's knuckles.

"I'm sorry I put you through that."

"Hey…" Blake said, cupping Yang's cheek so she was looking at her. "No more apologies, remember?"

They were quiet for a moment, Yang staring off into space.

"What are _you_ thinking?" Blake asked.

"I was just thinking about Winter."

Blake bristled at the mention of her name. The hand stroking Yang's skin went still, her spine stiffened up. Winter was still a sore subject for her.

"Not like _that_ ," Yang affirmed. "I was just thinking that if Winter and I hadn't trained together, I would have been a goner in that basement for sure."

"She was going to leave you there. She didn't send in the army to help," Blake pointed out.

"I know." They had talked about this at length before. "She had her reasons. We weren't…" Yang paused, looking for right word. "Her and I weren't serious or anything like that. I still feel grateful that she helped me."

Blake was silent for a long moment as she stared down at her middle finger, picking at a stubborn hang nail. "I'm glad she was there for you," she finally admitted, adding in her head; _when I couldn't be._ "We'll send her a fruit basket when we're married."

Yang snorted. "Don't be mean, Blake."

Yang brought her left hand up and looked at the gold engagement ring with a sparkling black diamond adorning her finger in the lamp light. Blake had proposed to her three months ago. "About that, are you sure you want to have the wedding in Menagerie?"

Blake turned to look at her. "Yes. Why? Are you having second thoughts?"

"Of course not! It's just… Would the faunus there have an issue with the daughter of the Chieftain marrying a human? I don't want to cause any problems for you and your family."

"Oh Yang…" This was the Yang she fell in love with, selfless to a fault, warm and giving. She took her into her arms and kissed her, _really_ kissed her, trying to convey all the love she felt for her.

They were breathless when she pulled away.

"You're mine and I'm yours… I want everyone to know," Blake said looking into her eyes. "Besides, if anyone has a problem, they can go fuck themselves."

Yang chuckled. She always found it incredibly sexy when Blake swore. She was definitely rubbing off on her.

"Okay, Blake," Yang said, leaning in for another long kiss. She smiled brightly. "Okay…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Author Notes:
> 
> And there it is! Thanks everyone for staying on the angst train for so long, hopefully the ending was worth it.  
> I think I might have turned off some of my hardcore bumbleby readers because *gasp* I paired Yang with Winter in this fic, blasphemy! Ok so let me explain myself a little bit more. This is going to be a long ramble so feel free to skip to the last paragraph if you are not interested.
> 
> The idea for this fic came at the end of RWBY Volume 4. I was pretty disappointed with the volume as a whole but in particular, Blake. I didn't understand how she could act so unaffected, going about her business in her parents' fancy house, angry and defiant like nothing happened. And okay, maybe it was a stylistic/directional choice to keep her inner feelings hidden but it really seemed like she wasn't thinking about Yang very much or at all. And that last scene with her, holding up the old White Fang flag and looking fondly at Sun… Yeah, I was mad at canon Blake.
> 
> My favourite scene from that whole volume was Yang leaning with her foot against the wall while she was on the boat to Mistral. It was so good to see her looking beautiful, cool and confident again, and it got me thinking, if Blake couldn't treat her right, then someone else definitely would. Like who wouldn't jump at the chance? Yang is solid gold!
> 
> And during my many many fanfiction readings, I had read quite a few bumbleby fics where Yang pines for Blake, and is jealous of Sun. I was thinking, why does Yang have to be the one to suffer all the time? I wanted to flip that scenario on its head, pair her someone else, and explore the jealous feelings on Blake's end.
> 
> And that's how this fic got started. Right after Volume 4 probably would have been a better time for this fic to come out, but I was too busy finishing 'More than Meets the Eye' to work on it. Then when I finally got started, I got some pretty bad writer's block after chapter 3 and I was getting so tired from my day job that I had no energy left to do any writing at the end of the day.
> 
> I took a long break from my tumblr, fanfiction and bumbleby. I didn't do or check anything at all for 4 whole months. But hey, I regained my energy after that and came back! I got over my writer's block by remembering the scenes I really wanted to write; like Blake walking in on them, Sun saying "You love her, don't you?", Blake/Winter stare down, and of course, them being finally together and Blake making love to Yang. I accepted that the chapter that I was stuck-on was not going to be perfect or exactly the way I wanted it so I could move on to other chapters.
> 
> Anyways I'm happy, it's always immensely satisfying to have a jumbled mess of random ideas and moments become a real completed story with a logical flow and an emotional impact. I was tough on Blake, and I had a secondary pairing, but I still think it is a true bumbleby story, through and through. There was so much hurt and pain because there was so much love there to begin with. Oh boy, I am talking too much, time to wrap this up.
> 
> Thank you ALL for reading, especially those of you who took the time to leave a review. Us fanfic writers put in a lot of time and effort to create a half-decent stories and all we ask is for some feedback to help keep us going. Special thanks to jonj1762, Luckenzio, Glare-TLock from FFnet and Fiangie, LazyKatie from AO3 for all the consistent, encouraging reviews! I checked my inbox compulsively for any new comments, and they always brightened my day.
> 
> What's next for me? You'll probably see me again. I got a couple AUs in the works, bumbleby centric of course. I came out with a one-shot this week, 'Let Me Show You' it is Scenario A: Angel of Kindness-Yang instead of Angry-Yang which is Scenario B, and you know what? It was way more heartbreaking to write a kind accepting Yang than the angry yelling one.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr sachiel21 if you want to learn a bit more about me, I have fic recs, some fanfic art, and the occasional witty comment. Til then, peace out!


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